Climbing Up The Walls
by kripke's keepers
Summary: Sam and Dean get off of a hunt and get word from Ellen about a case of disappearances in the Boston area. The brothers take the mission and are pulled into a tangled web of violence, dark pasts, and the lifes of two mysterious hunters. A/U & OOC
1. Dream A Little Dream Of Me

**Climbing Up The Walls**

**Chapter One: **Dream a Little Dream of Me

**By: **kripke's keepers

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_A house, old, run-down. Ramshackle even. There were lights moving behind the windows and three figures could be seen through the windows. One of them turned and motioned forward with his hand._

_"Sam, take a look at this." Sam moved to see, leaving her standing there to observe the two of them. She didn't mind._

_Sam. He was tall. That was the first thing one noticed about him. The second thing? His eyes. His eyes were soft and searching, sweet and sad. He seemed to exude innocence and kindness. Well, at least he did until you messed with the short one, Dean. Her body suddenly tensed and she turned to spot a lurking form behind the drapes._

_The creature jumped from the shadows and collided with Dean, bashing him into the wall. The tall sweetheart's face suddenly twisted into something cold and angry and completely... hot. The girl grinned wickedly as she watched. Sam pulled his gun from the small of his back and aimed into the chest of the creature, pulling the trigger three times. He sighed and wiped his hand across his brow._

_He turned to her and grinned, the blood splattered on his face only making the expression even better in her eyes. She smiled back and pulled him close, locking her lips onto his and kissing him deeply. He pressed her body against his, grinding her weapons and his into them. She pulled back and smiled wolfishly at him. _

_"Later." She said huskily. Sam nodded, leaning over and nudging Dean. He didn't respond. Sam leaned over and shook him slightly. _

_"Dean? Come on, Dean. Get up, you lazy jerk." Sam sat hard on the floor in exhaustion, not even noticing the other creature coming up behind him. She stepped forward to warn him, her hand out, her mouth halfway open to shout. Sam turned at the last minute but it was too late to stop the creature._

_It took a swipe that appeared to have missed but Sam's eyes started to cloud over as his throat gaped open and blood poured out of it. The girl's eyes teared up so fast that she was blinded for a few seconds. _

_Sam leaned over Dean's body and their blood mingled and ran over the dusty and dirty floorboards of the house just as Dean's eyes flew open from the girl's anguished cry. She grimaced and turned her face away as Dean jumped up, roared, and charged the creature, dispatching it with a long blade._

_He pushed the creature off of his blade and turned to her, his eyes filled with hatred and pain._

_"You." He said, advancing on her. "It's your fault." She shook her head, putting her hands out in front of her._

_"You know this isn't what I wanted, Dean. I cared a lot about Sam." She said, her voice strong despite the tears she could feel falling down her face._

_"No. I don't think I do know that. You've had it out for him from the beginning. Now, now I'm going to take care of you since he couldn't. You evil bitch." He suddenly charged her, the blade sliding into her lower abdomen._

She sat up fast in bed, her chest heaving as her eyes flew all over the room. Her hand flew to her stomach where she could almost feel the blade from the knife in her dream. She pushed her long blonde hair back from her face and grimaced at the sweat on her palm. She kicked the tangled sheets from her body and stumbled into the bathroom. She turned on the water and splashed it over her face.

"Coffee." She muttered in a prim British accent, patting her face dry and shambling into the kitchen. She pressed the button and leaned against the counter with her arms wrapped tightly around herself until she smelled the coffee brewing. Only then did her arms loosen and she started to relax a little.

"It was just a dream, girl." She shook her head and poured her coffee. She downed the whole cup of hot black coffee without pausing. She panted slightly from the heat and sat the cup down on the counter for a refill. "Just a dream."

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_The brunette could not make out any of her surroundings. Just dark. Simple darkness. Darkness and what seemed like some sort of tunnel. All of a sudden she heard what sounded like a scream. A scream for help._

"_Hello?" The girl said, her scared voice echoing into the abyss. "Anybody there?"_

_"Help me. Please, somebody. For the love of God, PLEASE!"_

_She could hear the voice more distinctly this time. It was the voice of a man. A hurt man. Perhaps a mortally wounded man. _

"_I'm coming for you! Don't worry, I'm coming for you!" The brunette yelled desperately. She sprinted toward the tiny pin-like light in front of her. _

_The light got bigger and bigger, until finally she found herself in an Indian-like pyramid, a sacrificial table set up in the middle of a huge room. She couldn't see where she was exactly, just the huge wooden slab in front of her. And the man upon it._

_A man with brown spiky hair was lying with his hands and feet bound with some kind of wire, secured to an unknown location. Everything was just so dark. Except for the table. His jeans looked normal, but his shirt was simply ripped to shreds. _

_She ran up to him, and met his big, green, watering eyes._

"_What's happened? What's your name?" The worried brunette was trying her best to get the wires that bound his hands and feet to come undone but to no avail._

"_D….D….Dean" The man managed to say between heart-wrenching sobs. "Please….it just….hurts…too much…I can't take it much longer."_

_The brunette stared hard into his eyes without stopping her tugging on the wire. "Listen, Dean, I'm going to save you. I'm going to get you out of here."_

_The girl looked down at her hands to see that they too were shredded just like Dean's shirt, just like his body, her blood pouring down her arms._

_As she was looking at her hands, Dean whispered "It's too late. It's too late for me." The girl gazed into his eyes and suddenly the light was gone. The man was gone. Dean was gone._

_The brunette opened her mouth in a silent scream when suddenly -_

The girl sat bolt upright in her bed.

"What the hell?" She muttered in a thick Southern drawl, feeling sweat drenching every inch of her body. She covered her face with her hands for a few seconds, trying to regulate her breathing. She opened her eyes and noticed the light was on in the kitchen. She threw back her covers and tumbled out of bed.

"I need some damn coffee," she voiced into the silence of her room and padded toward the light.

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The blonde girl was stirring her coffee when her roommate came out of her room and shuffled towards her. She motioned to the coffee and the brunette girl nodded.

"Are you okay?" Her roommate asked even though she was pale and drawn. The blonde nodded slightly, easing herself into her third cup of coffee, this time with cream and sugar.

"Just... had a bad dream." Her roommate nodded.

"Tell me about it." The brunette shook her head as she poured her coffee. "Think maybe there was something funny in those tacos last night?" The blonde shrugged.

"Dunno." She sipped the coffee and looked at her friend, studying her actions. The hand that she used to measure out the sugar was shaking and her knees kept locking and unlocking, seemingly without her notice.

"Well whatever it was, I don't like it." The brunette tucked one arm around the other, holding her coffee in her free hand. She leaned her back against the counter and stared at her blonde friend. "What do you think it is?"

"Like I said, I don't know." She turned her green eyes up to her friend's blue ones. "But I do know that whatever the dreams mean, it isn't good." The brunette sighed.

"Crap." She shook her head and downed her coffee. "I was afraid you might say that."

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**A/N: **So here's the first chapter, very short, but we hope you guys liked it. The next chapter will be out… instantly! Please feel free to review and let us know what you think!

See you soon!

kripke's keepers

:D


	2. FakeOuts and StakeOuts

**Climbing Up The Walls**

**Chapter Two: **Fake-Outs and Stake-Outs

**By: **kripke's keepers

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"Sammy?"

"Sam!" Dean leaned over and popped his little brother on the cheek briskly. "Wake up, Sammy. We're almost at Bobby's." He pulled on Sam's ear. Sam snapped awake and slapped his brother's hand away from his face.

"Why can't you wake me up without being a jerk?" He demanded, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Aw, come on now, Sammy. I'm not that mean." He smiled winningly. "I could have put shaving cream in your hand and tickled your face with a feather." Sam turned and glowered at his older brother.

"You did that yesterday." He muttered sulkily.

"Oh! Did I?" Dean smiled cheekily and turned back to the road. "That's right. I did."

"Jerk."

"Bitch."

"Whatever." Sam slouched in his seat, his lower lip stuck out childishly. "Why are we going to Bobby's?"

"Because Ellen's there and she said she has a case that we could take care of if we wanted to." Dean glanced at Sam. "Turns out we wanted to." Sam scoffed. Dean continued, "But first, to breakfast."

They got out of the car and walked into the small diner. The electric neon sign glowed in hot pink and sky blue flashes. There was a lot of black and white checkered signs around them.

"Hm. Candie's Pop Shop." Dean said, raising his eyebrows. Sam looked at him. "Aw, Sammy. Don't be so grumpy." Dean slapped his brother's shoulder and walked into the restaurant.

The sound of creepy, lilting music met their ears and they glanced at each other.

"Is that 'Lollipop?'" Sam asked in a disgusted tone, staring at his brother. Dean shook his head.

"I don't know what's worse." Dean said as he slid into a booth. "Me dragging you in here or you knowing this song." Sam glared at his brother as the waitress rolled up to their table on roller-skates.

"Hiya! Welcome to Candie's Pop Shop. Would you like an ice cold Coca-Cola to drink? Or maybe some flavored soda? It's swell." The waitress's voice cut through their conversation like a knife. Sam winced slightly and Dean's eye twitched at the pitch of her voice.

"I'll have water." Sam said as he pushed his frustration down. Dean nodded in agreement.

"A water and I'd _love_ to have a Coke," he squinted at her nametag, "Janie." He smiled charmingly at her. She blushed in pleasure and smiled.

"Okay. Do you know what you'd like to eat?" She blinked her eyes in an addle-pated way and Sam shot his brother a look. They both glanced down at the menus in front of them.

"Yeah," Dean started, "I'll have the Varsity Team Burger with bacon and extra onions. Fries."

"I'll have the chicken." Sam said. Janie suddenly looked confused.

"Well, there's lots of chicken on the menu. What would you like?" She blinked at him and waited. Sam sighed.

"I'll have the Junior Varsity Chicken Sandwich. Fries." He muttered sulkily. He went to hand Janie the menu and his fingers met the table. He glanced up and saw that Dean did the same thing.

"Oh. You guys are silly." Janie laughed highly. "The menus are in the table." She smiled and rolled away, swaying her hips in an attempt to be sexy.

"Dean." Sam said, waving his hand in front of his brother's face to get Dean's attention.

"Yeah?"

"What is the case about?" Sam asked as he leaned back in the booth and stretched his arms over his head.

"Ellen didn't tell me." Dean shrugged and leaned back, putting his hands behind his head. "But she said it's interesting." He closed his eyes. "I need some rest, Sammy. An easy hunt would be nice."

"Are you okay?" Sam asked, his brow furrowed as he studied his brother. Dean nodded, smiling.

"Yeah. I guess I'm just tired." He opened his eyes and grinned. "I hope it's zombies." Sam shook his head and laughed, letting his brother change the subject.

"You would."

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The Impala skidded to a stop outside of Singer Auto Yard. Dean and Sam looked at each other and back at the closed gate.

"Has that gate ever been closed?" Dean asked. Sam shook his head and leaned out the window slightly to take a closer look.

He squinted his eyes and leaned a little further out the window. He was grabbed and pulled from the Impala through the window before he or Dean knew what was happening. Sam was thrown on the ground and a bizarrely dressed person straddled him and held something up to his neck.

"State your purpose." The figure demanded in a deep, shaking voice. Sam stared at the person in surprise. The man was in a baggy black jump suit and a big ugly gas mask. His tangerine colored hair stuck up in all directions as he leaned closer.

"We're here to see Bobby." He said lowly, trying to keep his voice calm.

"Sammy!" Dean shouted, jumping from the Impala and running up behind the figure. He went to jump on the figure but the man laughed.

"Ah ah ah, Dean my boy! I wouldn't do that." The figure pressed his knife closer to Sam's neck. "Now, I will ask again. What is your purpose here?"

"Ellen called Dean, told him she had an assignment for us." Sam answered in a rush. Dean threw up his hands in exasperation.

"Dammit, Sammy!" He exclaimed. "You don't even know who this is!" The figure laughed.

"I don't even know who you are. So we're mostly even." The man laughed, throwing back his head.

"If you don't know us, then how did you know our names?" Dean demanded, edging around to look at the guy's face. They heard the intake of breath as he was about to say something when they all heard Ellen's voice.

"Lenny!" The guy turned around and looked at the gate. "What are you doing?" Ellen shook her head and motioned at the Winchesters. "They're friends." They heard Lenny's gasp.

"Friends?!" He jumped off of Sam and helped him up. "I'm so sorry about that!" Lenny laughed and pulled the gas mask off.

Sam and Dean jumped slightly at the girl standing in front of them. She laughed and shook out her hair, the six inch spiky hair flying everywhere and standing straight out. Her bright blue-green eyes flashed with mirth as she looked the brothers up and down.

"So, you're the Winchesters." She said in a high, quirky voice, wrinkling her freckled nose. Her mouth split in a smile. "Nice." She turned around and ran bare footed to leap over the gate, wrapping Ellen in a hug. She was muttering apologies to the older woman who could only smile and shake her head.

"Lenny?" Dean asked. Sam shook his head and brushed himself off.

"I don't know if I want to know." He muttered, getting back into the Impala.

Dean followed suit and watched Lenny push the gate and swing onto it as it opened. She had her head thrown back in glee as Dean pulled the Impala through the space. They heard the joyous screech of Lenny's laugh as she swung the gate closed again.

The Winchesters shared a look and shook their heads slightly as they turned back to face the front.

When they entered the house, it was oddly quiet. Sam and Dean glanced at each other and followed Ellen deeper into the house.

"Where's Bobby?" Dean tossed to Ellen as they entered the living room. She turned and shrugged.

"Working some case down in Savannah, Georgia. Some spirit wreaking some havoc on some Southern belles. Lenny and I are looking after the place for him." Dean glanced at Sam with raised eyebrows.

"Hmm. Let me guess. Our case isn't going to be nearly that fun?" Dean asked as he leaned against one of the tables covered with books. Ellen shook her head.

"Not quite." She gestured to Lenny who pulled out a bizarre laptop covered in several different colors of duct and electrical tape. "See, there have been a few reports of missing people in this area in Boston." She pointed to the map on the screen. "Nothing too big, but family members have later reported seeing them around town." Dean and Sam shot each other glances.

"Shape shifter," they both mumbled, thinking of their last encounter with shape shifters.

"That's what we thought." Ellen said as she nodded to Lenny. There was a whir as a printer went off. Lenny loped off to get it and stumbled back into the room with a pile of papers in her hand. "These are the specs and some information we gathered about the people themselves." She handed the papers to Sam who nodded his thanks.

"Why didn't Bobby go look into this one?" Dean tossed to Ellen as they headed for the door.

"Don't know. He could have done this one; it was in at least two days before the one in Savannah, but for some reason, he said you guys had to do it. Didn't know why. You just did." Ellen shrugged. "I don't ask him too many questions most days." She said with a sideways smile. Dean and Sam looked at each other and shrugged slightly.

"We'll see you later, Ellen." Sam said with a smile. Ellen laughed and slapped his back.

"Later boys." She said with a smile. "If you do have any questions though, there are some hunters from up in that area that I'm sure would be glad to help." There was a crash and a sudden scream from Lenny inside.

"Uno! No!!!" The sounds of a stomping chase shook the house's first floor. The Winchesters looked at Ellen who could only shrug.

"Lenny's something else." She said with a smile.

"Who is she?" Sam inquired, glancing at the ceiling.

"Ash's sister." She smiled at the looks on their faces. "Is there any doubt?" She laughed.

"Later Ellen." Dean called as he slid into the Impala. He turned the key and shifted into drive, speeding out of the auto yard and out onto the main road leaving Ellen waving goodbye.

"So." Sam said, glancing at Dean.

"Dude, that girl is weird." He glanced at his brother. "And we have seen some weird stuff." Sam laughed and shook his head.

"Well, she is related to Ash, so that's something you should think about."

"Yeah." Dean said, shaking his head to himself. He reached out and turned on the radio. "Now, Sammy, to Boston!" He said with a laugh and Sam shook his head at his older brother with a smile.

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"These news reports say that the disappearances have been occurring around the Harvard campus." Sam said, taking a sip from his soda as Dean devoured his cheeseburger.

"And?" Dean asked with his mouth full.

"_And_," Sam started, "it could have something to do with what the shape shifter wants. You know, they always want something, so maybe it has something to do with the college." He glanced out the window at the scenery whipping by.

"What, so the shape shifter wants to go to college and they didn't get in to Harvard?" Dean asked, glancing at Sam and back at the road.

"We don't know. That's the problem. We need more information about the campus life. Local stories. I don't know." Dean looked over at his brother as he polished off his burger.

"So we're reporters?" Dean asked with a smirk. "Ellen lied to me." Sam looked at his brother with a questioning expression.

"About what?"

"This hunt being less interesting than Bobby's." He shook his head with a grin. "Sorority girls, Sammy. We have to interview sorority girls." Sam shook his head.

"Dean, I said get the local stories, not throw a mixer."

"What? Come on," Dean urged. "These girls know some very important things, I would bet." Dean reasoned as he turned onto a street in Boston and stopped in front of a restaurant. He put the Impala in park and turned to look at Sam.

"Fine." Sam said, looking at his brother before looking out the window again. "But I get to think of the aliases this time." He muttered. Dean smiled and slapped Sam's back.

"Great!" He threw the door open and got out cheerfully with a slightly sulky Sam in tow. "Why are you in such a grumpy mood?" Dean asked, opening the trunk.

"I didn't get a lot of sleep since our last hunt, Dean." He turned and leaned against the trunk, casting his eyes on the town and people. "I got hung upside down like a slab of meat and they were going to drain my blood." He looked at Dean who shrugged.

"You shoulda had a quicker draw." Dean said unsympathetically. Sam snorted.

"Or you should have gotten there sooner. You've gotten bad at tracking." Dean punched Sam's arm lightly.

"Don't make me embarrass you in front of all these nice people, Sammy."

Sam rolled his eyes and looked back at the crowd with a smile. He scanned the crowd for a moment before he frowned and grabbed Dean's shoulder. Dean looked up with a question on his face. Sam nodded towards a young girl, juggling school books and a tray of coffees.

"Her?" Dean breathed. Sam shook his head slightly. He nodded his head toward the guy behind the girl, watching her as she struggled with a slight, predatory smile. Before Sam could say anything, Dean was striding across the street and straight up to the girl. Sam paled and followed Dean at a run.

"Excuse me, Miss," Dean said to the girl who looked up at him, startled. "Do you need some help?" The girl laughed in a stressed out way.

"You have no idea, honey." Her voice was as thick and dark as molasses and just as sweet. "I'm new and I need to get this back to my house and I just got my books from the post office and I'm really late for this meeting and - wow, I'm sorry. I'm talking kinda fast, aren't I?" She laughed at the expressions on Dean and Sam's faces.

"Don't worry about it. We're used to people talking fast." Sam said, reaching out and taking the coffees from her hand. "We're reporters." The girl smiled up at them brightly.

"Wow. That's cool." She let Dean take four of her textbooks, leaving her with one book and a lab manual.

"I'm Mr. Kent," Dean said kindly before gesturing at Sam, "This is Mr. Parker. We work for the Planet Bugle." He shot the girl a winning smile.

"Well aren't you cute?" She asked Dean, smiling flirtatiously and looking Dean up and down. "Your withers are a little bowed, but you're cuter for that, I think." She laughed at Dean's look of confusion. "Your withers... your legs. You have bow legs, sweetheart." Sam laughed then hid his smile behind a cough.

"Why thank you." He said charmingly, smiling at the girl. He gestured, "Lead the way." She smiled and nodded slightly, setting off down the street.

"So, would you mind if we asked you a few questions?" Sam asked the girl. "Miss...?" She smiled slowly.

"I'm Alicia." She grinned sheepishly and put her index finger on her nose. "I also have to tell you that I'm a Triple O freshman." Sam and Dean shot each other a look as she lowered her hand and her cheeks turned pink.

"What's a Triple O?" Dean asked lightly, pulling a smile from the girl.

"It's a sorority. Omega Omega Omega." She laughed and shook her head. "I'm a new pledge and I'm really excited, but I never thought I would pledge, you know?" She smiled and looked up at them as they turned a corner and made their way onto the campus.

"So, you've been here for a few months?" Dean asked. Alicia nodded.

"Since July. I had to come early for soccer camp and then I went through recruitment." She laughed. "I can't wait for Initiation in October."

"Sounds fun?" Sam asked with a smile. "So do you know anything about the town itself? Anything interesting that you learned?" She glanced over at Sam and her forehead creased in thought.

"Well, there's nothing that really jumps out at me other than the old stories from the college." She laughed. "And there are always ghost stories in a sorority."

"What kind of ghost stories?" Dean asked. She looked from one of them to the other.

"What exactly are you guys writing about?" Her brow was furrowed with suspicion as she paused in front of an old wine-colored Victorian with a white sign on the lawn. There were three black symbols on the sign and flowers of every color planted under and around it.

"We're doing a piece on local ghost stories for Halloween coming up." Sam tossed to her as he glanced away from the house and to her face. "We're focusing in on the sorority angle for our female readers." He shot her a winning smile and received a smile in return.

"Hm. Don't they have female reporters to do this?"

"All busy doing something more important, or so they all said." Dean said with an aggrieved air. Alicia laughed.

"Yeah. I can see that being the case. It's not very interesting. Honestly, it's the same stuff over and over again with different variations on it. There's one about a girl who hung herself but no one knows why. Fell in love with a professor and he left her, didn't get a part in a ballet that she wanted, or she was made fun of or killed in a secret club ritual." She shook her head. "I don't actually know a lot. You should ask my house mothers, Theresa and Natasha."

"Do you think we could talk to them?" Sam asked kindly.

"Sure. I wouldn't see why not." She smiled and walked toward the front of the house. "I'll need you to wait in the common room and I'll go get them." She said as they entered the house. She motioned to the bench sitting next to the door. "I'll be back in just a sec." She smiled and disappeared up the stairs.

"Dude," Dean whispered, "this is awesome!" Sam rolled his eyes and nodded at the three girls that walked past them whispering and looking back at them with smiles.

"They seem to like you. Why don't you go talk to them?" He suggested, leaning back against the wall and pulling down the sleeves of his flannel shirt. "I'm too tired to care anymore." He muttered, shutting his eyes.

"Who are you?" A high-pitched, Valley-girl accent cut through Sam's rest. His eyes flashed open and he took in a tall girl with long, straight blonde hair. He took in the tight shirt and mini-skirt in a flash before sitting up straight.

"Uh, I'm Mr. Parker, this is Mr. Kent." Sam said as Dean looked the girl up and down with a small smile playing about his lips. She blinked her bright green eyes at them and nodded slightly.

"And you're here... why?" She asked, looking slightly stern and a little bit frightened for some reason.

"Oh, are you one of the house mothers here?" She nodded at Sam, her smile almost empty of emotion. He stood up and held out his hand. She took his hand and shook it softly, like she didn't know how to shake hands well.

"Yes. I'm Theresa, Mr.-" she looked him up and down slowly before focusing back on his eyes, "Parker." She smiled slightly and looked over at Dean. "Mr. Kent." Her voice got slightly colder when she said it and Sam glanced at Dean.

"What can I help you with today, gentlemen?" She asked sweetly as she directed them into a sitting room. She sat primly on the edge a couch decorated with cabbage sized roses and motioned for them to do the same on the one across from her. They sat hesitantly on the hideous couch and Dean cleared his throat.

"We're doing a piece on local ghost stories and we ran into Alicia who told us that you and the other house mother-"

"Natasha." She supplied.

"Yes, Natasha. Well, we were told that you girls knew some interesting stories." He smiled charmingly at her. Her smile was icy.

"You've certainly come to the right place." She said cheerfully, pushing her bangs from her eyes absently. "Natasha and I have been researching the history around here for a long time." She smiled at Sam's raised eyebrows. "We're history majors and I personally just _love_ old stories. Some of them are just _so_ romantic." She said and sighed happily. Dean looked over at Sam with a smile.

"I'll just bet they are." Dean said and turned to look at the doorway as a brunette walked through it. She pulled her coat closer to her body and walked in with a smile until she saw Dean's face. She paled slightly and covered it up quickly with a smile, but Sam noticed and filed it away for later.

"Alicia said that there was someone here to talk to me." She said in the same voice as Theresa. Said blonde nodded and motioned for her friend to sit next to her.

"This is Mr. Parker and Mr. Kent." The two girls smiled at each other as Natasha sat on the couch.

"And I can help you how?" The brunette asked, pulling her really long, stick-straight hair over her shoulder and focusing her bright blue eyes on Dean's face. He swallowed and cleared his throat.

"Well we were wondering if there was any way that we could talk to you two about the local ghost stories around here. We're doing a piece for our paper." She nodded and smiled slightly.

"Anything we can do to help." She said with a slightly off smile.

The two girls told them all the ghost stories they could think of about the college and the local areas before the big grandfather clock on the wall struck three. They looked at each other and back at Sam and Dean.

"We're really sorry, but we'll have to cut this interview short." Theresa said as she stood up and stretched slightly. Natasha nodded and followed suit.

"We've got some very important people coming to visit the house today and we've still got house clean up to do." Natasha said and gestured to the door. Sam and Dean reluctantly went to the door and turned to smile at the two girls.

"It was certainly a pleasure to meet you two." Theresa said with a smile and Natasha nodded.

"You too." Sam said with a smile. The older Winchester smiled and they went out the door, walking down the stairs and back down the street to where they had left the Impala.

Theresa and Natasha stood at the front window of the house in the sitting room and looked out, watching the Winchesters walk away.

"That the one you had the dream about too?" Theresa asked quietly in her native British accent. Natasha nodded and nibbled on her bottom lip.

"That other guy the other one?" She asked in her Southern drawl just as quietly. Theresa nodded and snorted slightly.

"Reporters, my ass." They both smiled. "Good idea on names for that job, though. They're comic book fans, that we know."

"We don't have to worry about them though." Natasha said as she pushed her bangs from her eyes. "We still have that hunt to go on tonight." Theresa nodded.

"I know. They're not a threat." She pursed her lips and sighed, letting the curtains fall in to their proper place. "Probably just some thrill seekers wanting some glory like those Ghostfacer wankers." She shook her head, dismissing the thoughts inside, and assumed her fake voice.

"Alright girls," she called, walking into the television room, "time for clean up!" The girls let off a chorus of groans and got up reluctantly from the couch.

Natasha watched Theresa rustle all the girls up and herd them into the kitchen, but she didn't follow right away. She glanced out the window again, her brow furrowed in worry as she thought of the dream and the look of fear on Dean's face. She closed her eyes and her dream flashed in her mind.

"_Please….it just….hurts…too much…I can't take it much longer."_

The screams echoed in her mind. Her eyes flashed open as she looked at the real Dean's retreating back. She shook her head before going into the kitchen, ignoring the chills that ran down her spine.

----------

Dean slid into the driver's seat and shut the door. He glanced over at his brother who shrugged.

"Well that was almost useless." Dean said, tossing his notebook into the backseat.

"We did learn that those two know a lot." Sam said thoughtfully, thinking about the looks that both of the girls had gotten on their faces when they saw Dean.

"A whole lotta nothing." Dean muttered, starting the Impala and merging into traffic. Sam frowned in thought and opened his cell phone, dialing Ellen's number.

"_Hello?_" She answered after three rings.

"Hey Ellen, it's Sam." He heard the smile in her voice when she answered.

"_Hey Sam. What can I do you for?_"

"I remember you saying something about other hunters in the area that we could look up and talk to." Sam glanced at his brother who was watching the girls from the college walk through the crosswalk. He shook his head and looked out the window.

"_Yeah._" She laughed. "_Their names are Tyler and Tosh. Two really good hunters. Not much has been heard from them though._" She made a small sound. "_You really should talk to Ash about them though; he knows them better than I do, but no one really knows much. You know how it is._" Sam nodded to himself.

"Thanks Ellen." He said with a smile. She laughed as there was a giant crash in the background and Lenny yelled.

"No problem, Sam." She said distractedly. He closed his cell phone and sighed, leaning back in the seat.

"Well, those other hunters Ellen told us about?" Dean nodded. "No one's heard from them in months and they were quiet to begin with." Sam said despondently. Dean shrugged.

"No worries. We'll do fine without them." Sam shrugged and yawned.

"I guess so. I just want to lie down." He mumbled, his eyes watering as he yawned again. "I do think that they'd be able to help us out a little bit with the layout of the town or the politics of the creatures at least." Dean shrugged and pulling into the parking lot of a motel.

"Tyler and Tosh." He muttered to himself, rolling the names around in his mouth. "Sounds kinda lame." He grinned over at Sam who just stared at him. "What?"

"You know we've heard worse from hunters before." Sam replied, getting out of the car and grabbing his bags from the backseat.

"Yeah." Dean agreed, heading toward the office of the motel.

Sam glanced up at the name of the motel. _The Wayward Lass_. The boating paraphernalia all over the place should have tipped him off to what the theme for this motel was. He waited for Dean and followed him to the room when his brother exited the office.

"I'm betting sailboats." Dean said, calling what decoration would be on the dividers. Sam shook his head.

"It'll be girls. Sad or hanged or dead from heartbreak." Sam mumbled, following Dean into the room.

"Well damn." Dean said, turning from the divider filled with mourning girls to Sam with an incredulous look on his face. He dug in his pocket and slapped the five dollar bill into Sam's hand. The taller Winchester smiled and flopped down on the bed.

"Wake me up when we're doing something." Sam said, asleep within seconds of hitting the mattress.

----------

Dean stared out into the night and sighed in boredom as Sam nodded in and out of sleep. The two of them were sitting in the Impala, watching Sorority Circle for anything suspicious. The hands of his watch read twelve twenty-two when Dean noticed two shadows move from behind the Triple O house.

"Sammy?" Dean reached over and went to shake his brother.

Sam jumped awake at the sound of his name, not wanting his brother to repeat the waking that he had given before.

"What?" Sam asked blearily, rubbing his eyes.

"There's someone moving behind the sorority house." Dean said quietly, locking his eyes onto the shadows as they got into a car. He turned the Impala on and followed the car far enough back that the people inside wouldn't notice them.

"This should be fun." Sam muttered to himself as he straightened his clothes.

Dean stayed back enough to almost lose the car several times. He noted the car's make and model.

"Damn. '67 Mustang. Nice condition too." He said as he glanced at Sam who was still blinking sleepily. "Wakey wakey, Sammy. We need to be on our toes here." Sam nodded and yawned, shaking his head to clear it.

They followed the Mustang to an old hotel, the building barely holding together. Dean parked the Impala and turned off the lights, holding himself still as he watched the two forms get out of the car and go up to the front door, looking around. The taller one bent down and worked the lock open as the shorter one looked around sharply.

"They look..." Dean started.

"Professional." Sam finished for him, glancing at his brother.

"Well if they are just thrill seekers, they have some experience." Dean commented, opening the door and going around to the trunk for the arsenal. He opened it and propped the lid with a shotgun.

"What if they aren't just thrill seekers?" Sam asked quietly. He loaded a shotgun with salt and put silver rounds into his handgun. "One of them might be a shape shifter." Dean shot Sam a look.

"What if... No." Dean shook his head. "Shape shifters don't team up with other shape shifters." He pumped the shotgun and slung the rig across his shoulder. "Let's go, Sammy. Even if it's nothing, we can at least check it out."

Sam and Dean walked cautiously up to the door, pushing it open slightly and calling a slight creak from the hinges. They edged inside and blinked in the gloom, letting their eyes adjust. The door shut by itself, slowly, until they heard the lock click into place. They glanced at each other.

"Let me guess," Dean whispered, "there's a haunting here, isn't there?" He shook his head as they approached the front desk, studying the dust and the dilapidated shelves holding together by one rusty nail.

"That's what I would guess." Sam said quietly, looking up at the ceiling with foreboding.

"Shit." Dean spat, shaking his head as he switched out his handgun for his shotgun. Sam kept his handgun and edged towards the stairs.

"Hey." He breathed, motioning Dean over, and pointed up the stairs to a tiny difference in the light and shadows moving around. Dean glanced at him and over at the second set of stairs across the room.

"I'll take this one." Sam exhaled, edging up the stairs as Dean made his way across the lobby to the second staircase.

Sam slowly moved up the stairs, stepping on the dusty footprints on the stairs so he wouldn't crash through one of them. He skimmed against the wall, sliding up slowly, his eyes searching for something to jump out at him. He crested the top of the stairs, slowly turning to see a room in front of him with the doors open.

He edged into the dirty, dusty parlor and looked down at the gear on the ground, noting how familiar the materials looked. He was about to bend down when he heard a creak behind him. He spun, his gun level with the chest of a girl who had a gun aimed at his throat.

"Don't fucking move." She said in a sharp British accent, her long curly hair pushed back from her face. Her green eyes were dancing with anger as she glared at him. Surprise filled them just as fast. "What the hell do you think you're doing here?" She demanded.

"I could ask you the same thing," Sam retorted, his gun steadily aimed at her chest.

"I'm a hunter. It's my job to be here." She was angry again, her free hand balled into a fist. He shook his head slightly.

"You can't be a hunter." He said it without thinking about it as he looked her up and down, taking in the tight jeans, black t-shirt, and blood red leather jacket. Her eyes went from hot to icy in a flash.

"That so?" Her voice was frosty as she looked him up and down unabashedly. "I could say the same thing about you… Sam." He jumped slightly.

"How did you know my name?" He demanded to know. She laughed slightly.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." She muttered almost to herself. She quirked her head and glanced behind Sam with a smile. "Hello Dean." Her voice was angry and a little frightened. Sam glanced over to his brother as he moved around them, his shotgun pointed at the girl.

"You should be putting that gun down now, babe." Dean said forcefully. The girl shivered exaggeratedly.

"Ooh. Someone's so tough." She spat, her eyes still on Sam. She kept looking at him in the oddest way, like she was getting ready to eat him alive and that he would enjoy it. He shifted uncomfortably and tried to keep the expression from affecting him.

"Damn right I'm tough. Now drop the gun." He demanded. She sighed and smiled condescendingly.

"So sorry, Deanie. I really wish I could. It's a shame to have such a delicious thing at gunpoint," she purred about Sam, "but I don't think my partner would agree with that."

"Partner?" Dean asked before he heard a click behind his ear and felt the cold barrel of a shotgun against his ear.

"Yep. Partner." A girl with a thick drawl said, her teeth glinting in the light from the lamp on the floor. "You boys are screwing up our hunt." Dean glanced back and paled in frustration.

"House mothers my ass." He spat, still holding the gun. The blonde snorted.

"Reporters my ass." She said, shaking her curly hair from her shoulders. "You got him, Tosh?" The brunette nodded.

"Yeah." She suddenly gasped quietly as her friend's bracelet lit up. "Ty."

"Shit. Shit!" Tyler spat, holstering her gun and running into Sam, shoving him against the wall and leaning on him. He fought her slightly, pushing against her. She only shoved harder. "Don't fight me!"

He stopped fighting, his chest rising and falling fast as he stared at her. She stared at him hard.

"I need you to trust me." She said softly, pulling his face close to hers.

"What's going on?" He asked just as softly.

"This spirit hates men." She whispered, covering his eyes with her hand. "I'm really sorry about this." He wrinkled his brow in confusion.

"About what?" He asked.

"You'll see."

Across the room, Tosh slammed Dean into the wall, pushing her body against his.

"Wow, you're really eager." He gasped as she squished him into the wall. She smiled angrily and put her hand over his eyes.

"Shut up and close your eyes." She slapped her hand over his eyes and snuck a glance over her shoulder. Dean went to reply snappily and Tosh slapped her other hand over his mouth.

"Just shut the hell up, Dean, and you might survive." She drawled, leaning closer to his face and taking a deep breath.

"HEY JOE! WHERE YOU GOING WITH WITH GUN IN YOUR HAND?! HEY JOE! I SAID WHERE YOU GOIN' WITH THAT GUN IN YOUR HAND?! I'M GOING DOWN TO SHOOT MY OLD LADY! YOU KNOW I'VE CAUGHT HER MESSING AROUND WITH ANOTHER MAN!!!" Dean winced at the terrible sound coming from Tosh's mouth. Sam was in the same boat as Dean with Tyler leaning into his body screaming.

"CHAKA KHAN! CANINE TELL US! COLD EEL CAN YOU HAVE AN EYE OUT?! TELL US OH DEAR! CLEVER ON A PHONE TREE! MISSING SINCE THE FOURTEENTH! ANNIE HAS COW CHEESE MISSING IN THE WANTING! SHANGHAI! CANINE TELL US!"

Sam felt something akin to clawing fingers going through his mind. He pulled Tyler closer and buried his head into her neck and she screamed the song into his ear to drown out the sounds of the screeching of the spirit.

Dean moaned in pain and clutched at his head, trying to push Tosh away, thinking it was her voice that was causing the pain in his head.

"You stupid ASS!" She screamed, pulling him closer and locking her arms around him. "If her voice gets inside your head, you are through!" She ground him into the wall again and started screaming the song again. "I'M GOING DOWN TO SHOOT MY OLD LADY! YOU KNOW I'VE CAUGHT HER MESSING AROUND WITH ANOTHER MAN!"

Dean's eyes burned with the image of a woman reaching out to him, her hands formed into clawed hooks. Her hair was flowing around her head wildly and when she turned to go toward Sam, Dean noticed the back of her head was missing. Tosh reached up and pulled his face down, pressing her lips to his and biting his lips hard, sliding her tongue into his mouth. He almost pulled back before he pushed closer to her, his hand sliding up behind her head and holding it there.

She screamed into his mouth in pain as she was wrenched away and tossed into the wall across the room. Dean slapped his hands to his ears and slid down the wall, his eyes screwed shut against the light.

"Why'd you do it, Andrew?!" The spirit screeched, reaching out to grab Dean and shake him, tossing him from one side of the room to the other. He slid down the wall and lay in a crumpled heap.

Tyler screamed lyrics into Sam's ear, pulling him away from the wall slowly toward the middle of the room where their gear lay. The spirit grabbed Dean and threw him into another wall, dust raining down on them when he hit. Tyler reached down, groping for the salt shotgun and her fingers brushed across it as the spirit turned its attention on Sam.

"ANDREW?!" She screamed shrilly, pulling Sam from Tyler's grasp and pushing the blonde back against the wall forcefully. Tyler's head cracked back against the wall and her vision wavered before she threw herself into the middle of the room, rolling and coming up again with the shotgun aimed at the spirit. She pulled the trigger and the spirit evaporated with an angry cry.

Tyler flopped back flat onto the floor and panted in relief, pressing the bridge of her nose in attempt to relieve some of the pressure. Sam stumbled over to Dean, pushing his bloody hair from his face. He leaned over to shake his brother and Tyler paled. She jumped up and slumped against a chair as the world tilted slightly.

Struggling to remain on her feet, she staggered over to Tosh and felt the brunette's pulse. Satisfied that her partner was still alive, Tyler kicked her gently and moved to gather up the gear. She slung the bag over her shoulder and kept the shotgun out.

"Listen Sam, you and your brother need to get out of here. I didn't want to torch the whole building, but now we've got no choice." She looked over at Tosh who was blinking and groaning as she pushed herself to her feet using the wall.

"I blame you." She hissed at Dean who just looked at her, blood running down his face.

"Come _on_." Tyler commanded, herding them out of the room and scanning the area for the spirit. The woman was oddly quiet as they exited the room and made their way down the stairs. She waited until they were all on the porch to throw one last punch at Sam who stumbled forward into Tyler who fell into Tosh who pushed Dean off the porch, the older Winchester making a very unmanly sound as he tumbled into the bushes.

"I hate ghosts." Sam muttered as he rose, rubbing his head and pulling Tyler to her feet. She sent him a frustrated glance before throwing a lit match onto the pile of straw on the porch. The pile went up with a whoosh and followed a trail of kerosene all the way around the house. Sam glanced at Tyler who shrugged.

"We planned ahead." She said simply, jumping off of the porch into the same bush where Dean had fallen.

"No thanks to you two." Tosh said bitterly as she lay in the bush next to Tyler.

"Hey, we didn't know who you were." Dean said, pulling himself from the shrubbery and straightening out his clothes. "Tyler and Tosh?" The girls nodded. "You're supposed to be some of the best." He said half to himself.

"Hn." Tyler mumbled incoherently. Tosh leaned closer. "I hate my job sometimes." The brunette climbed out of the bush and laughed.

"All hunters say that, Ty." The blonde groaned as her partner pulled her from the plant and set her on her feet.

"I know." She whined slightly. "But this time I mean it." She put her palm to her forehead and closed her eyes. "Do you think you can drive?" Tosh's eyebrows shot up.

"Did you just ask me to drive?" Tyler nodded. "You must be really hurt to ask that." The blonde shot her friend a glare and went to get into the passenger side of the Mustang.

"Uh, excuse me." Dean said as he and Sam stood there, watching the girls talk to each other. They turned and looked at the Winchesters like they had forgotten their existence.

"What?" Tosh asked angrily.

"What are you doing?" Dean demanded, looking from the grimacing blonde to the bloody brunette.

"Uh, we're going home." The brunette said, getting into the car and closing the door. Tyler stood in the open door, looking at them for a few seconds before she sighed and leaned into the car, whispering something to Tosh. They argued for a few seconds before Tyler leaned back out.

"You can come too, if you need somewhere to stay for tonight." She said kindly, acting like she wasn't holding her head to keep it from throbbing its way off her body. Sam glanced at Dean who shrugged.

"Sounds good." Sam said, getting into the driver's seat and starting the Impala. He followed the Mustang as it pulled out of the lot and headed back to the house.

"Something's not right." Dean said as he leaned back, holding his bloody nose with fast food napkins. Sam glanced at him and nodded.

"For hunters, they're very nice to invite us back to their house." Sam said, deep in thought. Dean glanced at his brother and saw the wheels turning.

"And...?"

"_And_," Sam said with a smile, "something's going on here with these two." He glanced at his brother. "I don't know what's wrong yet, but there's definitely something." Dean shrugged and leaned his head back again.

"At this point, I just want some beer. Besides," he said with a slight smile, "they may be hunters, but they're sorority girls. What can they possibly do?"

-----------

**A/N:** Oh Dean… you poor fool. :D

Haha. So here's chapter two, hope you like the update speed. Please let us know what you think and we will be updating very soon.

Toodles!

kripke's keepers

:D


	3. Playing With TnT

**Climbing Up The Walls**

**Chapter Three: **Playing with T-n-T

**By: **kripke's keepers

----------

"Dean." The voice was cloudy, almost a whisper. "Dean."

Dean moaned lowly and rolled his head slowly up from his chest. He looked around him and saw a simple loft with a wide open living room, kitchen, and dining room. There were five doors leading out of the room.

"Dean?" Sam whispered again.

"Mm. What?" He asked, putting his head back too fast and hitting it on Sam's.

"Ow!" Sam hissed, pulling his head forward.

"Where are we?" Dean asked blearily as he blinked to clear his vision.

"We're in the top of the sorority house. Tyler and Tosh's loft." Sam said angrily.

"What?" Dean tried to turn around and look at his brother. "Shit." He muttered, turning back around.

"I blame you." Sam said darkly, slumping over and making a face at the situation.

"What? Why?"

"Well, they're just sorority girls. What can they _possibly_ do?" Sam mocked.

"Whatever. I don't even remember how we got here." Sam snorted slightly.

"What _do_ you remember?"

"We drove from the hotel, got to the parking lot, parked the Impala, and walked up the stairs."

"And then you walked right into Tyler's hand with the chloroform cloth in it." Sam said in monotone.

"Dammit. What is it with British girls?"

"Well if it makes you feel better, they didn't think I was a big enough threat to take out so I had to carry you up the stairs." Sam said in a sarcastically happy voice. Dean laughed quietly.

"Aw, thanks Sammy." Dean gushed. "Now that we've had that tender moment, can we figure out how to get out of this?"

"Uh, Dean..." Dean turned with a terribly angry expression on his face.

"What?" He looked up and saw Sam standing in front of him.

"That was really easy." Sam said quizzically, looking at the ropes in his hands. Dean shrugged and pulled his hands free from the ropes that tied them.

"They didn't take your knife though, so yeah it was easy but-" Sam cut him off.

"No, Dean. I didn't use my knife. It was tied like shoestrings." Dean's brow wrinkled.

"You let me sit there tied up while you didn't notice the knot was tied like a shoestring?" Dean demanded to know, glaring at his brother as he looked around.

"Says the guy who walked right into a trap." Sam said, looking around for something to use as a weapon.

"Oh! I'll bet that you jus-" Dean started before the overhead light turned on and half blinded them.

"Wow." Tyler said as she stood in one of the doorways. "You guys bicker a lot." Tosh was leaning next to her doorway in her own.

"Just like a married couple." The brunette tossed in. Tyler laughed and shook her head.

"Actually, I was just thinking they sounded a lot like us." Tosh snorted and they both started laughing.

"You know," Tosh started as she walked towards the kitchen, "you guys are really bad hunters." Tyler stopped laughing and shot Tosh a look.

"I'm sorry about that. No, you guys aren't really bad hunters. You just screwed our mission all to hell." The blonde walked past the Winchesters and into the living room, plopping down onto the couch. "You should probably go now. Your weapons are in your Impala."

"We didn't mess up your mission." Dean replied absently, looking back and forth between the two girls. Sam was sliding slowly toward the front door, his eyes on Tosh as she fixed coffee. She looked up at him sharply and smiled, pushing her wavy hair from her eyes.

"You might want to unlock the door before you run through it." Tyler tossed to them, sitting up and looking at them over the top of the couch. "See you around, Winchesters." She twiddled her fingers in a sarcastic wave as the boys went through the door and down the stairs.

Dean muttered curses all the way down the stairs. Sam just followed him quietly, his frustration with himself internal.

"I can't believe they got the drop on us!" Dean yelled, getting into the Impala and slamming the door. Sam got in the Impala more gently and shut the door before looking at his brother.

"On you." Sam said quietly.

"What?" Dean asked, speeding down the road towards the motel.

"They got the drop on you." Sam said like he didn't want to repeat himself. He knew this was going to start an argument.

Dean started to say something then stopped several times, glancing at Sam. He finally gritted his teeth and shook his head.

"I'm not talking to you anymore." He said, turning on the radio and turning the volume up all the way. Sam sighed and shook his head, pretending not to notice that Dean was embarrassed about getting beaten by girls. He wondered absently if Dean knew he was acting like a seven year old. Sam had a smile on his face the whole way to the motel.

----------

Tyler pushed herself off the couch and leaned on the window seat, looking out the window as the Impala screeched by, Dean taking the turn onto Oak Street dangerously fast. Tyler glanced over at her friend, accepting the coffee that Tosh handed her.

"So…" Tyler started, leaning against the window and tucking her legs underneath herself on the window seat. Tosh looked over at her hesitantly, not liking the look on the blonde's face.

"So?"

"We need to do some research on them." She glanced back out the window again before turning back around. "_Real_ research." Tosh snorted in agreement.

"Yeah. Though messing up a few of their hunts would make me feel _really_ good." The brunette said nastily, pursing her lips. Tyler shook her head then wished she hadn't.

"That wouldn't solve anything and you know it." The blonde held her hand against her forehead and took a deep gulp of her coffee, relishing the warmth burning its way down to her stomach. "You'd just make a mess of things like they did and then innocent people would still get hurt." The brunette nodded, downing her cup of coffee.

"Well," she said as she wiped the corners of her mouth, "I don't really care right now. I just want some pain killers." She got up and took the medicine bottle from the cabinet, pulling out three tablets and breaking one in half. Tyler walked up and took one and a half pills, popping them into her mouth and taking a swig of coffee as Tosh did the same.

"Ugh." Tyler moaned, rubbing her sides as she walked towards her room. "I've got a class at ten tomorrow." She glanced at her watch. "Later today." She grinned over at Tosh. "'Night."

"'Night, Ty." Tosh yawned, pushing her hair back from her face and grimacing slightly at the hardened chunks of hair. "Damn blood." Tosh muttered, hearing the shower turn on. She sighed and went to the kitchen sink, dunking her head under the faucet.

"Damn one bathroom." She mumbled, scrubbing her head gently as the water ran red, then pink. "Damn Winchesters." She hissed as she got water in her eyes. "I hate the Winchesters." She grabbed the dishrag and tied her hair up in it, squeezing the water from her locks.

"Especially Dean." She mumbled, biting her lip to keep from feeling the pressure of that kiss as she sauntered into her room and shut the door.

----------

Sam awoke to Dean clacking furiously away on the laptop's keyboard. He looked at the clock on the bedside table and grimaced, rubbing his eyes.

"Dean," he asked, sitting up and propping up on his elbows, "why are you awake at 8 o'clock in the morning?" He asked sleepily, clearing his throat to relieve the scratchiness. He calculated how fast he should move by the injuries he had gotten the night before.

"You ask that like it's not a reasonable time to be awake." Dean commented, reaching for his coffee and taking a deep gulp, seemingly in no pain from the spirit last night.

"It's not." Sam slid to sit up against the headboard. "Have you been drinking?" Sam asked, looking hard at his brother. Dean snorted.

"No, you ass." Dean said dismissively, waving Sam's statement away with a quick flick of his fingers. "I've been doing research on those two." He rubbed his jaw with the back of his hand and pointed at the screen. "I haven't been able to find much, but what I _do_ know is that they went to MIT the same time that Ash did." Dean looked over at his brother with a giant smile. "This is the connection."

"You look a little nuts right now, Dean." Sam said, rising from the bed and shuffling towards the bathroom in his boxers and t-shirt. He glanced at his brother whose shirt was rumpled and whose hair was sticking out all over the place. "I can smell your breath from here." Sam muttered, closing the door behind him.

"You'd go nuts too if you were trying to get information on these two." Dean called, leaning back in the chair and reaching for a candy bar. He pulled off the wrapper and took a bite in one swift motion as he stared at the computer screen like the fault belonged to it. Sam exited the bathroom and stared at his brother again.

"Why does it matter so much to you?" Sam asked, wiping his hands on a towel and tossing it over his shoulder.

"Because." Dean said, clearing his throat and flipping open his cell phone. Sam chuckled and shook his head.

"You're just mad that they got the drop on you and now you're obsessed." Sam tossed to him as he pulled on a pair of jeans. Dean shook his head and glanced out the window at the sunlight.

"It's not that." Dean said softly. Sam glanced over at him. "There's just something about them that rubs me the wrong way." Sam raised his eye brows as he tried not to laugh and shook his head.

"Well, are we calling Ash, or what?" Sam asked as he sat back down on the bed, leaning up against the pillows.

"That's my boy." Dean said, walking over and sitting on the bed across from Sam's. "Those two are nothing but trouble and I am going to get to the bottom of this." Dean muttered half to himself as he listened to the sound of the phone ringing. There was a click and a rustle and a small grunt.

"_Hello?_" Ash's voice was thick with sleep. Dean glanced at Sam and pretended not to notice him dozing off against the headboard.

"Hey, Ash, it's Dean. I need some info on those two hunters in Boston. Tyler and Tosh." Ash mumbled something incoherent and Dean heard the phone hit the floor. The sound of sniffing filled the speaker and a scraping sound filtered into Dean's ear. "Ash?"

"_Ash?_" Lenny's voice was lilted in questioning. The sniffing sound filled the speaker again. "_Uno, stop it._" There was a scrape and Dean heard faint breathing.

"Hello?" Dean inquired, putting the call on speaker phone.

"_Haha. Is this the Winchesters?_" Dean glanced at Sam who blinked sleepily at Dean's nudge.

"It might be. So what's wrong with Ash?" Lenny laughed.

"_He's had tee many martoonies._" She giggled and Dean heard sniffing again. "_Uno, he doesn't want to talk to you. Dean is busy. Busy, busy, busy._"

"Well if he's drunk, do you think you can tell us something?" Sam asked sleepily. Lenny's laugh was warm.

"_Sure, sure._"

"What do you know about the hunters Tyler and Tosh?" Dean asked, almost holding his breath as he waited for a response.

"_Uhhhh..._" There was the sound of typing and then silence for a few seconds. "_Nothing._" Lenny's voice sounded disappointed. "_There's nothing on them. Well... I mean, not _nothing_ but what there is, there isn't a lot of._"

"Whatever you've got is a big help." Dean said excitedly, pulling a pen and pad of paper from the desk onto his lap. "Go ahead."

"_Well, Tyler a.k.a. Theresa Jane Beckett is a native to Glastonbury, England, comes from a really wealthy family, and used to be a debutante._" Lenny snorted with laugher. "_You should see this dress... Anyways... Family includes a deceased father, three older brothers, and a grandmother. No word on her mother, assumed to be deceased._" Dean nodded slightly to himself as he jotted these facts down, biting his lip in concentration.

"What about the other one?"

"_Tosh a.k.a. Natasha Marie Banks was born and raised in good ol' San Antonio, Texas! Yee haw!_" Lenny's voice was thick with an exaggerated Southern accent. "_Lost her mother in some sort of robbery, left with a father, no siblings. There's less on her than on Tyler._" There was a sound of a scanner and a printer went off somewhere in the background. "_I'm sending you guys some stuff. This is all I can do for you._"

"Thanks Lenny." Sam said as Dean handed him the phone to check the laptop for the e-mail. The girl laughed highly and sighed slightly.

"_No worries, Sammikins. Toodles!_" There was a click as the line went dead and Sam closed the phone, walking over to where Dean sat staring at the laptop screen.

"So what did you get?" Sam asked as he leaned over the back of the chair and locked his eyes on the screen.

"Not too much, but I did get a little more on that Tosh girl. I've got a court case for the father where they wondered if it was him that did the knifing of her mom. Charges were dropped and almost eight years later, there's an obituary for the guy." He glanced over at Sam who looked at him.

"You think demons maybe?" Dean shrugged.

"There's always something that pulls people into this business." Dean said quietly and scrolled down. Sam pointed at something halfway down.

"Look. A school newspaper article about two students from MIT locked in the library over the weekend and how they survived the time." He scanned the article quickly, eyes flashing over the lines. "See? 'The MIT library has always been said to be haunted by a campus ghost, a nasty little spirit who likes to knock over books and turn off computers in the midst of work, but these two girls only smile and shake their heads over this story. Theresa, a Fine Arts major, said "It was nothing like others said it would be, just cold, dark, and uncomfortable."'" Dean looked over at him and laughed slightly.

"Well damn." He leaned back in the chair as Sam stood up and stretched his arms over his head.

"Well now we know a little more about our hunter friends." Dean snorted slightly and Sam shrugged. "Alright. Other hunters. The next step is to gather some more information on these disappearances." He walked over to the bed and sat down, pulling on socks and shoes as Dean did the same.

"Right. Sounds good." Dean said tiredly, rubbing his eyes slightly. He jumped up from the chair and shook away the tiredness. He turned to Sam with an awake look on his face. "Come on, Sammy. These co-eds need our help!"

Dean grabbed his jacket and walked out the door, filled with energy. Sam sighed slightly and rubbed his face, trying to erase the lines of worry that had been there since he had woken up. He stood and followed his brother, easing the door shut gently.

----------

"You'll never believe who I just talked to." Lenny sang into her headset as she shut Ash's cell phone. A warm laugh filtered into the girl's ears.

"_Hm. Let me guess. They wanted information on us, didn't they?_" Tyler's voice was a balance between annoyance and curiosity.

"Yep yep." Lenny said as she bounced up and down in her computer chair, spinning around and around, feeling her eyes crossing as she did.

"_Well, hunters _do_ share a lot of the same ideas._" Tosh admitted, the twang in her voice slightly more pronounced since she was tired. "_So what's the story, morning glory?_"

"Here's the tale, nightingale." Lenny said musically, slamming her hands down onto her desk to stop herself from spinning. She laughed giddily for a few seconds before she started typing. "Hm. Hm. Hm!" Tyler laughed.

"_What's so interesting?_"

"Hm. There's an article here about Sam's house burning down a little while ago and his girlfriend was trapped inside." Tyler made a small, sad noise before Lenny continued. "Apparently, he lost his mother in a fire too... and father John Winchester hasn't been heard from in a while, possibly deceased." Tyler was silent, but Tosh spoke up.

"_So, what about the other one?_" Her voice was half worry for Tyler's reaction to the news about Sam and half intense curiosity about Dean.

"Hn. He has been a very bad boy." Lenny said mischievously. "He's in the FBI database for several murders and attempted murders of young women." Tosh snorted.

"_Knew he was one messed up son of a gun._" She said, probably shaking her head, or so Lenny thought.

"Indeed. You knew and still you wonder." Lenny said cryptically.

"_What?_" Tosh asked, confused.

"Nothing, nothing." She shook out her hair and pulled the headset from her head. "Laters." She said into the mouthpiece. Both of the female hunters said goodbye and hung up.

Lenny pulled up hard on the laptop charger cord and trotted over to the bar, hopping onto a stool and patting the one next to her. Uno jumped up and put his paws on the bar.

"Back off, flea bag." Ellen muttered good­-naturedly, pulling a gasp from Lenny.

"You be nice to my Uno." She said, stroking his head absently and running her fingers over his ears, much to his delight. She stared at the rings on the bar left from the last rush of hunters and let them bring her back to another time.

_She stared at the rings on the coffee table and sighed, rubbing futilely with a rag soaked in walnut furniture polish._

_"Lenora, those aren't coming out and you know it." Her father tossed to her as she sighed. She nodded and stood, working the kinks out of her legs and smiling at her mother._

_"You want to come and help me set the table?" Her mother asked even though she had already taken the silverware and began laying it out._

_"You think they'll like me?" She asked her mother softly, smoothing down her straight, long cinnamon colored hair nervously. Her mother smiled warmly._

_"Yes, I do. I think they'll love you, Lenora." Her mother cupped her face softly as she wrinkled her freckled nose. They both jumped when they heard a crash in the kitchen. "Andrew?" Her mother called, going towards the door and freezing in terror at what she saw._

_"Mom, what is it?" She asked, stepping up to see their neighbor Greg hacking at her father's limp body with a butcher's cleaver. His head snapped up and his eyes flashed black at the two of them as he grinned, his mouth running with blood._

_"Mm. You're next." He growled in a voice not his own as he launched himself at them. She screamed as her mother shoved her out of the way and took the chop intended for her. Her mother's eyes filled with shock as she fell against the doorframe._

_"Lenora." Her mother gasped. "Run." She slid down and fell under another blow and lay motionless as Greg chopped again and again._

_"Lenny?" Ash's voice called from the front door as he entered the house with two lovely girls following him._

_"Happy Thanksgiving." The three of them called, looking around for the parents. The blonde girl caught sight of her and her face became troubled._

_"Lenny?" She walked over. "What's wrong?" She turned and gasped, grabbing Lenny and shoving her towards Ash as the brunette girl ran up beside her. She reached in her pocket and withdrew a flask, pulling off the top and tossing its contents onto Greg._

_"AH!" The thing inside Greg hissed. "You stupid girl. This is all your fault, you know." It spat at them as the two girls advanced on the creature. The brunette started chanting in Latin as the blonde held the creature at sword point to keep it from moving. It howled as black smoke flew from Greg's mouth and his body fell limp onto the floor, cleaver falling to skitter across the bloody kitchen floor, blood gushing out of his body as he died._

_"Lenny?" Ash asked, turning her face to look into her eyes. "Are you okay?" He asked. She smiled slightly, feeling a weird emptiness inside her head. She looked over at the two girls who were looking at each other sadly._

_"This isn't your fault." She said, her hair sliding into her eyes. "You saved me." They looked at her sadly and both looked away. "Who are you?"_

_"I'm Tyler." The blonde said with a British accent as she brushed her bangs from her eyes with the back of her hand._

_"Tosh." The brunette tossed to her. Lenny pulled herself from her brother's grip and started to walk towards them. She felt her knees buckle and heard her name being called as she fell into darkness. "Lenny? Lenny!"_

"Lenny?" Ellen asked for the third time, snapping her fingers in front of the girl's face. She suddenly blinked her blue-gray eyes and smiled a giant, crooked, empty smile at Ellen.

"You really should have knocked. The doorbell's broken." She said lightly in a tinkling voice as she hugged her little white schnauzer close to her body, receiving a lick on the cheek from him. Ellen shook her head with a half smile and ruffled the girl's choppy tangerine locks.

"You are one strange chickadee." She motioned over at the mulleted mass on the pool table. "Will you get him off the table? I've got a couple of people that want to play." Lenny turned and smiled at her brother's sleeping form.

"Sure thing, boss lady." She said brightly as she slid from the barstool, her bare feet dancing her across the floor and leaping to land her on top of her brother who groaned. "Rise and shine!" Lenny sang, throwing back her head and screaming joyously. Ellen laughed and turned back to the dishes with a smile on her face as the hunters sitting at the bar shifted slightly away from the strange, howling girl.

----------

"So, you're boy toy is a killer of humans. Nice." Tyler tossed to her roommate, pushing her red-framed glasses higher onto her nose. Tosh stuck out her tongue.

"He's not my anything, you jerk, and you know it." She tossed her hair over her shoulder and took a bite of the sub sitting in front of her on the table.

"Alas, I _do_ know and I _still_ deign to tease you about it." Tyler grinned wickedly and stood, stretching and scratching her stomach through her overly large sweater. "What I also know is that the Winchesters are not good news." Tosh snorted.

"That's putting it a little lightly, don't you think?" She took another bite and chewed it slowly. Tyler shrugged and pulled her curly hair into a ponytail.

"Who cares?" She blinked her green eyes a few times to clear them and glanced at the clock on the microwave. "What I want to know is why the hell I'm awake before ten in the morning... Two hours of sleep, my ass..." She shuffled back into her 'den' and shut the door behind her. Tosh sighed and stood, brushing crumbs from her clothes as she walked into her room and into the adjoining sink area of the bathroom.

"I care." She said, brushing the crumbs from the corners of her mouth. "I care so much that I think that we should just avoid talking to them at all costs." Tyler was sitting in her computer chair at her desk and she spun around in a circle a few times before shrugging and turning back to her laptop.

"Whatever you think is best." She said, leaning close to the screen to inspect a picture, the light reflecting off of the lenses of her glasses.

"It's settled then." Tosh agreed, glancing at herself in the mirror and choosing to ignore the worry lines around her mouth as she went back into the living room.

From then on, whenever Tyler or Tosh saw Sam or Dean around town, they avoided them, turning and walking in the other direction or completely ignoring them. Several times the boys would go visit the victims of the suspected shape shifter crimes only to find out that Agent Tango and Agent Cash had already been there. The tension came to a head almost a week and half after the feud had started when Tosh took the last slice of apple pie from the bakery and ate it outside the window as Dean was forced to watch in silence.

"I can't take it anymore." Dean suddenly burst out as he stared at the bad wallpaper in the motel room a few days after the pie incident. Sam jumped, startled, and looked at his brother.

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked, putting his research aside.

"This game we're playing with them." Dean shook his head. "It's pissing me off. If they've got a problem, they can either say something and shut the hell up or suck it up and shut the hell up." He paced the room and shook his head.

"Maybe they don't want to do either of those things, Dean." Sam said mysteriously as he turned his attention back to his research. Dean shook his head.

"No. No." He grabbed his coat. "I'm done with this. If they want to play dirty, then we can play dirty too." He strode out the door.

_Play dirty_… Sam thought as he stood and pictured the looks that Tyler gave him whenever they did see each other, like she wanted to eat him alive and that he would enjoy it. He suppressed a shudder and followed his brother, slightly excited and worried at what would happen next.

----------

**A/N: **Play dirty… tee hee. Oh… eh… yeah.

Anyways, this is a little more insight on our character Lenny, so we hope you liked that! Also, this has a little more background info and the rest you'll just have to learn about. This chapter is a little short, but the next chapter well makes up for it, trust us.

Thanks so much to those who read and our reviewer. :D Review and let us know what you think!

Peace.

- kripke's keepers


	4. A Carwash For Terriyaki Lovers

**Climbing Up The Walls**

**Chapter Four:** A Carwash for Teriyaki Lovers

**By:** kripke's keepers

----------

Tyler and Tosh pushed open the doors to the Omega Omega Omega house and stepped outside, relishing in the sunshine on their faces. It was one of the few really warm days left before the cold fronts moved in and they planned to take advantage of it.

"Okay, ladies!" Tyler yelled, jumping in place slightly as she yelled in her false voice. "Who's ready to get some donations?" All the girls cheered and jumped up and down.

Tyler and Tosh grinned at each other and moved toward their table in the middle of the front lawn. Picking up the microphone, Tyler smiled and motioned to Tosh to switch on the speakers.

"Heeeeeeeeeelllloooooooooo Harvard!!!" She called, smiling and gesturing widely with her hands as people walking by and up in their houses looked at her. "The girls of the Omega Omega Omega house would like to get you all cleaned up!" She winked at the boys walking past the table and they smiled and nudged each other. Tosh leaned over the microphone and laughed lowly.

"And maybe dirty you up a little too." She said, turning and smiling at her partner in crime.

"So if you want a clean car and a nice date to boot, come on by the triple O house and place a bid! We only accept cash and the banks close soon, boys! Hurry, before it's too late!" Tyler laughed into the microphone as she noticed some of the freshman sprinting toward the ATM in the main student lounge.

The two of them turned to the girls in the sorority and smiled.

"Go get 'em girls!"

All of the girls turned and went to stand on the sidewalk in front of the house, waving signs and laughing and smiling. All except Heather. The small girl was sitting on the front steps with her nose in a book. She had her long, curly black hair pulled into a bun with a pencil and was chewing on a pen as she studied. Her tank top and shorts were almost covered up with her notebooks and textbook. Tyler strolled up to Heather and sat down next to her.

"Hey Heather." Tyler said in a voice more her own as she smiled. The girl smiled absently at her book in response.

"Heather," Tyler started, "I know you're cramming for your exam in three days, but I really think it would be healthy for you to take an hour or two off and have some fun." Heather's eyes shot from her book to Tyler's face.

"Oh! What are you talking about?" She shook her head and looked at Tyler again. "If I take this hour or two off, I could miss something important in this chapter and then I could miss it on the exam and then I could fail the class and then I could fail other classes and then I would flunk out of Harvard. HARVARD! Can you imagine what would happen then?! Who would take a student that flunked out of HARVARD?!" Heather was panting as she stopped speaking, looking to Tyler for guidance.

"Well..." Tyler's eyes were wide and she nodded slowly. "I still think you should take some time off. This time because you are stressing yourself out to the point that you're going to snap at any second." She patted Heather's shoulder gently. "Really, sweetie, listen to me. I know what's good for you." Tyler smiled and went back to the table to stand next to Tosh, observing the steady flow of cars coming into their driveway.

Heather followed and stood at the driveway, waving to people. A cute freshman came walking up to the table and smiled. Tyler smiled back.

"Hey! Would you like to make a donation?" She asked brightly. He nodded.

"Yeah. I'd like to take her out. I didn't realize she was in this sorority." He pointed over at Heather who paled at seeing all of them looking in her direction. She shook her head as soon as the boy turned back around, motioning to Tyler about her exams.

"Done!" Tyler said, taking the seventy five dollars and smiling at the boy. "Drive your car around and Heather will wash it for you." She leaned close. "And if you mess with her on your date, I'll gut you like a fish," she said lowly, flashing her teeth at him in a snarl. The boy smiled before he saw the look in her eyes. He glanced at Tosh and the brunette had an even worse look on her face.

"O-Okay." He said, quickly turning around and running to his car. Heather's face fell when she realized what Tyler and Tosh had done. She pouted and began to wash the boy's Honda Civic, obviously ignoring the chatter that he was spewing, though he did seem earnest in his like for her.

"This looks like a good crowd." Tosh said absently, pulling on her long brown hair as she turned to Tyler.

"Yeah." The blonde agreed. She looked up at the sound of a growling engine and slapped her palm to her face.

"What is it?" Tosh demanded.

"It's an Impala." Tyler mumbled. Tosh shrugged.

"So?"

"So." Tyler looked up and jerked her head at the occupants getting out of the car. "Guess whose Impala it is." She looked at her friend and shook her head. Tosh turned bright red in anger and gritted her teeth.

"I thought we told them to stay away from here." She ground out angrily. Tyler laid a hand on her arm and turned her around.

"Listen, Tosh. If you get mad, it'll blow our cover." Tyler reasoned quickly. "We can't let them think that they can get to us and if the girls ever realize that we aren't what we say, things could get bad, quick." Tosh sighed and nodded, her teeth still gritted tightly.

"Alright. But I refuse to be nice."

"You can be civil. Act like we don't know them from anything other than the interviews." Tyler admonished, slapping a fake smile on her face as she turned around. "Well hello, Mr. Parker, Mr. Kent," she said in her Valley-girl accent as Sam and Dean approached.

"Hello, Miss Beckett." Sam said formally, smiling genially. Dean nodded to her in response.

"Hello, Miss Banks." He said, leaning on the table dangerously close to Tosh.

"Hello, Mr. Kent." The brunette said flightily, her eyes the only part of her face that didn't match the carefree greeting. "Is there something we can help you with today?"

"Would you care to make a donation to our charity?" Tyler asked Sam, batting her eyelashes at him and smiling sweetly. He laughed slightly and shook his head with a smile.

"Actually, we came to ask you a few questions." He said, leaning close to her. "Like why you've been avoiding us and making things difficult all over town." Tyler smiled and leaned closer to him.

"You want to know why?" She asked quietly, her real accent pushing through. He nodded. She smiled. "You're stirring things up, Sammy. People are going to start asking questions about us. You're going to end up blowing our cover." She laid a light kiss on his cheek and laughed lowly as he leaned back in surprise.

"Well all you have to do is talk to us." He said oh-so-reasonably.

"Hm. Will you stop stalking us then?" Tosh asked brightly, her eyes hard despite her smile. Dean laughed.

"Stalking you? Oh no, we weren't stalking you. We were keeping an eye on you. Making sure you were hunters. If we were stalking you, this conversation would be very different." The tone of his voice made Tosh shiver slightly. Tyler's laugh came out sharply.

"Making sure we were hunters? Bull. You botched our hunt." She shook her head and smiled. "Granted you did help us learn something special about the spirit, but other than that, you royally screwed us over." Sam and Dean glanced at each other.

"Learned _what_ about the spirit?" Dean asked, looking at them intently. Tyler suddenly smiled and laughed her high-pitched imitation laugh.

"Oh, Mr. Kent, don't be silly." She said in her high, chipper voice. Sam turned around and smiled at Heather's curious look as she walked up to them.

"Hi. You're the reporters, aren't you?" She asked kindly.

"Yes, we are." He smiled and gestured to the cars. "What kind of fundraiser are you guys doing?" Heather smiled bitterly.

"You donate money to our charity and you get a carwash and a date." She smiled and gestured towards us. "If you want to donate, you should talk to Theresa and Natasha." She smiled up at Sam who turned to smile at Dean.

"What if," he began, "we want to choose them?" He asked sweetly, turning and looking at the pair of hunters. They both had slightly widened eyes, but their smiles remained frozen on their lips.

"Well," Heather began, "it's not generally how this works..." Tyler and Tosh sighed slightly in relief. Sam held up a wad of fifty dollar bills. "But just this once, we'll make an exception." Heather said in a hurry. The two girls turned and stared at her as she walked behind the table. She leaned between them and got the money bag. "Payback's a bitch. You should have just let me study for my exam." She said plainly with no heat in her voice, her eyes slightly wide. Tyler laughed.

"Well damn." She said, shaking her head and grabbing a bucket from beside the table. She waited for Tosh to follow suit. The brunette looked from her friend to Heather one more time before she growled and grabbed a bucket.

She stomped toward Tyler and fell into step with her as they walked towards the Impala. She glowered at the blonde.

"Don't act like this is my fault." She laughed at the brunette. "Sam's a damn good deal maker." She shook her head. "And Heather's just that good."

"I'm going to kill her." Tosh hissed, turning around and shooting the bespectacled sophomore an evil glare.

"No you're not." Tyler said, pulling her back around. "You're going to grit your teeth and bitch and moan, but you love her too much to hurt her."

They stopped next to the Impala and Dean ran up behind them just as Tosh went to put the sponge on the car's hood. He reached out to stop her, but Tyler beat her to it.

"Whoa!" She grabbed Tosh's wrist and pulled the sponge from her hand. "The other side, the other side." She turned the sponge over and put the softer side on the car. "If you use that side, it takes more than dirt off. You could take off the gloss." She shook her head slightly and began to wash the other side of the car. Dean stared at her.

"Well how was I supposed to know that? You're the one who always washes the Mustang." Tosh grumbled, scrubbing the soap all over the car.

"How long have you had that Mustang?" Dean asked Tyler, leaning against the dry back-end of the Impala. Tyler shrugged.

"Don't know. Few years." She said absently. Tosh snorted.

"Yeah right! You love that car." Tosh remarked. Tyler sighed and turned to the Winchesters.

"I got her right when I got here, about four years ago. She barely ran. I had to completely rebuild her without knowing anything about cars." Dean nodded, slightly impressed.

"So how long did it take you?" He asked. Tyler smiled.

"About six months. There was a time when I couldn't dress nicely at all because I was always underneath my car tweaking something. I remember Easter that year." Tyler whistled lowly. "My grandmother came from England to visit and we were in my car." She winced. "I was dressed in white and lavender in a dress she brought for me. It ended up torn, muddy, and covered in oil. I don't think I've ever seen her so _mortified_." She said with an exaggerated air. Tosh laughed.

"I have." Tyler looked at her and smiled. "The Christmas that she came over and you, me, Ames, Leo, Jake, and Alec were playing drunken Twister." Tyler burst out laughing and Tosh joined her. The two of them almost forgot that the Winchesters were there until Dean cleared his throat. Tyler's smile slowly subsided and she turned to look at them.

"So," Tyler started, rinsing off the hood with the hose. "Is there any reason in particular, other than the fact that you wanted to get back at us, that you donated for us?" She looked at Sam and smiled cheekily.

"Actually, yes." He looked at his brother who shrugged. Sam continued, "We can help you." Tyler and Tosh stared at him before bursting into laughter.

"We don't need your help." Tosh said, wiping the tears from her eyes. Tyler nodded in agreement, spraying the Impala's surface again with the hose and leaning over to do the tires. Sam glanced at her and looked away, the action only unnoticed by her. Dean and Tosh glanced at each other in confirmation of what they saw. Tyler looked up and they looked away from each other.

"Really guys, we're okay on our own." Tyler said, standing up and leaving a clean rim behind her as she moved to the next one. She didn't bend down this time, merely looked at Dean and frowned slightly. "You're in the way."

"Again." Tosh muttered with a smile as she dipped around the other side of the car to clean the rims there. Tyler's smile flashed across her lips and vanished again.

"Are you sure about that?" Dean asked, his arms crossed as he leaned in the way of Tyler's cleaning. She frowned again and stood mirroring him.

"Well considering the giant help you were on our last hunt, I really think we'll be fine without you." Tyler answered, nudging him out of the way with her hip and leaning down to clean the rim. He looked at Sam who only smiled and shrugged slightly at the offense.

"We'd also really appreciate it if you could just leave us alone after we finish washing your car." Tosh said in a surprisingly nice voice. Dean shrugged in agreement but Sam stepped in.

"Oh, I don't think so." He said in a mock-apologetic voice. Tosh's smile drooped at the corners. "See, we paid for a carwash," he paused before adding in a laughing voice, "and a dinner." Dean laughed, looking at the two girls' faces. He leaned on the car, once again in the way.

"And then we can convince you that you need us." Dean uttered, smiling.

Tyler grinned at Dean and sprayed him with the hose.

"Holy shit!" He cried, jumping and wiping his face off. "What was that for?" Tyler smirked.

"That's for having such a clever brother." Tyler remarked, gently drying the car with a towel.

"How's that my fault?" Dean sputtered, glaring at Sam who shrugged with a small smile. Tosh met Tyler in the middle of the car, both of their sides dry.

"There you go, boys." Tyler tossed to the brothers who stood a good ten feet away now. "We'll see you later." Sam shot her a grin as he walked past her and the action pulled a smile from her. He got into the car, the irritated Dean following him and peeling out of the parking lot.

"Damn. I am not looking forward to this." Tosh exclaimed, tossing her hair. Tyler quirked her mouth.

"Hm. It'll be interesting." She was watching the car pulling away, noting how Sam was the one who glanced back at them. She waved her fingers cheekily and blew him a kiss. He smiled as they went around the corner. Tosh was looking at her when she glanced back. "What?"

"You like him." The brunette said with disgust. The blonde tutted.

"Now now, I don't like him." She picked up her bucket and walked back toward the table. "I just think he's really cute," she said to Tosh as the girl fell into step with her.

"Yeah, if you like the whole lost-puppy-Cro-Magnon look." Tosh muttered. Tyler laughed and tossed her stick-straight hair from her face.

"Whatever Tosh. He's cute and I happen to kind of like the idea of getting to just talk to him about something other than hunting." She sighed, her face slightly troubled. "I'm so tired of work at this point. But it's nice that he already knows about my work so I don't have to pretend to be some delicate flower who's never experienced anything terrible." She suddenly grinned wickedly. "And a little flirting with a cute guy never hurt anyone." Tosh rolled her eyes.

"You are hopeless." The brunette said, putting her bucket back where she got it. Tyler put hers next to her friend's and threw her arms around Tosh.

"But you love me." She said in her fake accent. Tosh winced, then smiled.

"I know." She responded as Natasha. "Dunno why sometimes, but I do." Tyler grinned cheekily and released her. She ran towards the front steps with a sudden burst of energy.

"Heather!" Tyler called, making the girl jump up and run inside, Tyler hot on her heels. Tosh laughed, shook her head, and sat down at the table, her eyes running over the yard. She smiled at her girls and opened a book, brushing up on her folklore.

----------

Sam and Dean walked up to the double doors of the famous local Japanese restaurant called "Teriyaki" with a resigned Tosh and amused Tyler in tow. Unlike most hunting days, Tosh and Tyler opted to dress appropriately, wearing cocktail dresses instead of the regular attire of sweat suits or jeans and flip-flops with leather jackets. Dean walked through the door but Sam held it open for Tosh and Tyler who smiled as they walked past him.

Sam moved to Tyler's side and motioned for her to sit at the end of the table immediately near them as Dean and Tosh sat at the end directly across from them, an overly-excited chef cooking on an open fire in between them.

Tyler sat down next to Sam and immediately started fiddling with her silverware, unrolling the napkin then rolling it back up again. Sam sat next to her and smiled slightly at her, clearing his throat awkwardly. They sat there and looked at each other silently until Tyler made a pained face.

"I don't know why you're being quiet." She told Sam pointedly. He turned and looked taken aback by her sudden outburst. "I mean, this was your doing. You just had to make that bid." Her smile was slightly irritated and she took a sip of her water. Sam laughed.

"What can I say, you had me from 'Don't fucking move.'" Tyler suddenly burst out laughing and almost sprayed her water onto the table.

"Well, I _do_ have quite a way with words." She said laughing as she pointed to chicken on the menu when the waitress asked. She leaned her crossed arms on the table and smiled, thinking that this wasn't that bad as Sam smiled shyly at her.

Across the room, Tosh and Dean sat down, both silent and looking around curiously.

"So... this is it?" Tosh said abruptly to break the silence, looking over at Dean.

Tosh could see that Dean was checking out some bleach-blonde whore waiting a table beside them. Glancing at Sam and Tyler, she could tell from the laughter and the smiles that at least they were having an alright time. Either that or Tyler was a good actress.

She finally managed to get Tyler's attention and mouthed the words _Kill me now._ Tyler shrugged in reply. Tosh had known Tyler long enough to know immediately that that gesture meant "I don't know, just go with it!"

Tosh wanted to mouth something else, but Sam once again had her in a conversation. Turning her attention back to Dean, noting that he was practically undressing the random chick with his eyes, she finally had enough of his crap. Tosh forcefully nudged Dean in the ribs, gaining her an annoyed look.

"_What?_" Dean hissed. She leaned back, slightly surprised at the vehemence in his voice.

"I said," Tosh replied once she gained her composure, "nice place."

"Oh, I didn't pick this 'Mr. Miyagi' establishment. That was all Sam's doing. If it was up to me, I'd be out of here in a flash but Sam insisted that I come with you. I think he's getting a Johnson for your friend over there and didn't want little ol' you to feel left out."

"Well, wasn't that so kind of him?" Tosh said, venom oozing from her voice.

"Yeah. 'Sit-down' dates were never really my sort of thing." Dean continued.

"Oh!" Tosh said with a warm but menacing chuckle. "Is a two-cent whore with a million different STDs and kinds of sperm in a shitty motel more your thing?"

"Whoa!" Dean replied with surprise. "Sit, Ubu, sit!"

"You really are a bastard, you know that?" Tosh said, meeting Dean's eyes.

Without blinking, Dean exclaimed, "And you're simply a joy to be around!" Dean moved his face until it was a centimeter away from Tosh's when he whispered: "Sorority bitch."

"What did you just say to me?!" Tosh practically screamed, causing disgusted looks from others at the restaurant to come their way.

Sam and Tyler's conversation was suddenly cut short as they heard the sound of yelling from the other side of the table. They leaned away from each other and saw what was going on over on the other side, both of them glancing back to the other.

They watched in shock as Tosh grabbed her water and poured it over the top of Dean's head. The chef whose face was seconds ago so full of excitement turned to that of concern as he put his spatula down and went to try to restrain Tosh, failing miserably.

"Let go of me!" Tosh belted out. She tore herself free and faced the enraged Dean.

"This is my favorite jacket! And it took me a long time to get my hair to look good!" Dean whined, still sitting in his seat.

Tosh completely ignored Dean and walked over to Tyler and Sam's table, her face tomato red. She put her hands on her hips.

"This was obviously a bad idea." She said.

"Obviously." Sam deadpanned.

"I'm just going to go." Tosh said, turning and walking away.

"Wait, Tosh! We'll come with you!" Tyler said as she rose from her seat. Tosh turned around and could almost taste the disappointment on Sam's face.

"No, you stay. Stay and have a great time. I'll take care of El Deaño over here. We're just going to go back to the house." Tosh said.

"Alright, if you're sure. We'll see you guys there later." Tyler replied, sitting back down.

Tosh walked back to the table and stopped in front of Dean. Dean was still sitting down, dripping wet, and mad as hell.

"We're leaving. I'll go wait by the Impala."

"No you are not!!! You will wait by the door for me and we'll both walk out together. I don't want you vandalizing my precious baby!" Tosh sighed with resignation.

"You are so lucky that I have a headache and that I am _so_ done with you."

Tosh left the room to go stand by the door. Dean looked at Sam and mouthed _I hate you _with an evil glare. Sam shrugged, a smile playing on his face. Dean shook his head, got out of his chair and walked toward the door and a waiting, pissed off Tosh.

Tyler turned and looked at Sam with wide eyes and a barely concealed smile. She smiled and shook her head.

"Wow. Could they like each other any more?" She asked Sam, provoking a laugh.

"I don't know. They could have thrown the silverware at each other. Or held one another's faces over the fire." Tyler laughed.

"They could have stabbed each other with the display swords. Or one could have broken the other's neck with their chopsticks?"

"I'm just glad the food hadn't come out yet." Sam shuddered. "A food fight with Japanese? Can you imagine how long it would take to get the smell of teriyaki out?" They both burst into fits of laughter, disrupting the slight peace that the restaurant had fallen into.

"They're totally hooked." She said as she wiped the tears from her eyes, her smile seeming to be permanently on her face when talking about Dean and Tosh's relationship. Sam nodded, leaning his elbow on the table and focusing on her.

"No doubt about it." He ran his eyes over her face as she turned to get the waitress's attention and smiled to himself. "Totally hooked."

----------

The orange sun was starting to set over the falling leaves as Dean and Tosh walked toward the Impala. Dean got in and put the keys in the ignition as Tosh walked over to the passenger side and yanked on the door handle. It was locked. Tosh lightly tapped on the window. Dean leaned over into the passenger side to disengage the lock. But just as Tosh tugged on the handle again, Dean locked it again.

"Oh! Sorry…" Dean said.

Dean unlocked the door, Tosh tugged and Dean locked it once more, barring Tosh from entry.

"Really?! Really man?! You're playing the lock game with me?! How old are you? SIX!?" Tosh said, leaning down so she could see Dean, whose face and laughter was eerily similar to that of a child's.

"Listen." Tosh said in a low tone. "If I'm not in this car in two seconds, I swear I'll take matters into my own hands!" Tosh reached into her pocket and pulled out a knife, holding it up to the Impala's pristine paint job.

"Okay!" Dean screamed like a little kid. "Okay, okay! Please just calm down! Can you not take a simple joke?" He unlocked the door and pushed it open.

"That was _not_ a simple joke, sugar. That was just you being a pain in my ass," Tosh replied as she adjusted her leather jacket and slid into the Impala. Dean punched the gas and got them out of there as quickly as he could, his tires squealing as he peeled out of the parking lot.

Tosh glared at Dean, who was clutching the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles were white. Dean glared right back at her. They turned to look back at the road at the exact same time. Tosh would have laughed if she wasn't so pissed off. The silence was deafening, until out of nowhere, Dean's stomach growled. Tosh looked over, and saw Dean gaze down at his stomach briefly.

"Are you hungry?" Tosh said

"Shut up." Dean said abruptly.

"You are! You know, you never took me out to dinner. Tsk. Tsk," Tosh said.

"Yes I did, you just ended our date very... quickly," Dean replied, glaring at her once more.

"That doesn't change the fact that we haven't eaten," Tosh saw a Burger King on the horizon and turned back to Dean. "I know you want to pull into that Burger King." Tosh persuaded. Dean glared at her and punched on the gas as they passed Burger King.

"Fine," Tosh said. "If that's what you want."

They were about half of a mile down the road when Dean did an illegal U-turn at a break neck speed. Even though Tosh and Dean had their seat belts on, they swayed in their seats in resistance to the car.

"_Holy shit, Dean_! What the hell are you doing?"

With a smirk, Dean looked over at her. "I'm hungry."

Within seconds, Dean and Tosh were at Burger King's drive thru.

"Welcome to Burger King, may I take your order?" a girl with a Valley-girl accent said really loudly through the speaker.

Dean immediately answered: "Number One, no lettuce and tomatoes, extra onions."

"Is that all?" the girl asked.

"Ye--" Before Dean could complete it the statement, Tosh punched him in the stomach hard, unbuckled her seat belt, crossed into the driver's seat, and stuck her head out the window.

With Dean sputtering and gasping in the background, Tosh ordered, leaning out the window with her body across Dean's.

"I'll have the same, except with extra pickles as well and that will be it," Tosh, content with herself, resumed her place in the passenger's seat.

"That will be $7.58, please drive around to the next window," the girl answered.

"Yeah, Dean, drive on around!" Tosh said, snickering. Dean gave her a look evil enough to kill, got himself under control and drove around.

"I'll have you know that you're holding the damn food! And don't you dare touch any of my fries." Dean exclaimed in defiance.

"Fair enough, you're buying!" Tosh replied, flicking on the radio as they drove away with the bag of food.

_Hybrid children watch the sea, Pray for Father, roaming free..._

The brunette winced and changed the song, not noticing that Dean had the same reaction. They glanced at each other for a split second and then away. Dean drove back to Tosh and Tyler's dorm, Tosh holding the food as promised.

As they got out, Tosh said, "We might as well sit out here and wait for Tyler and Sam."

"Yeah, that's actually a good idea. Plus it's really nice out here," Dean said, trying to turn on his charm.

Tosh looked at Dean, her brow furrowed, "Gay."

Dean gave her a surprised look. "What?"

"You can be all 'Rico Suave' on other girls, but don't think that 'oh-it's-really-nice-out-here' mentality will never work on me. Ever. So quit trying." Tosh said, handing him the bag.

Dean rolled his eyes and said "Rico Suave? I have absolutely no idea what you are trying to say, or who in the hell you are referring to." Dean walked to the front steps of the dorm building and started taking the food out of the bag. Tosh followed, a satisfied smile on her face.

Dean looked into the bag and handed her a burger. "See if that's yours."

Tosh looked into the wrapper. "Yep. A lot of pickles. Gives it a twang."

Dean, who had already taken a bite of his food, choked with laughter.

"What?" Tosh asked, perplexed.

"'Twang?!' Did you just say 'Twang?' How cute!" Dean said in between fits of laugher.

Tosh felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment.

"And oh goodness, you're blushing!" Dean said in an exaggerated Valley-girl accent.

"Shut up and eat," Tosh said.

After a couple minutes of eating, Dean broke the awkward silence that Tosh and he had fallen into.

"Do you think Sam and Tyler are having a good time?"

"Oh yes," Tosh said. "Your brother has her smitten alright! I know her well enough to know what is going on."

"And what's that?"

Tosh tossed her food wrapper into the bag and stood up

"I'm gonna act this thing out."

"Okay!" Dean said taking a sip of his drink and gluing his eyes to Tosh.

"Tyler and Sam are going to have a great time, talking about weather and their lives and laughing: 'HA HA HA! You are so funny Sam!'" Tosh said, acting out Tyler. "'You too, Tyler,'" Tosh said, shrugging just like Sam. This made Dean chuckle.

"And then, after the date, Tyler will turn her charm on. And that's gonna get Sam's goat, if you know what I mean. She'll say some stuff like 'I have a thing for good-looking guys' and what not and then they will drive back here and talk awkwardly for about fifteen minutes in the car before one or both of them will admit that they like each other." Tosh bowed. "Thank you, I'll be here all week!" Tosh once again sitting down beside Dean.

Dean clapped. "Not bad, if it's true. We'll just have to see."

"Let's see, shall we?" Tosh said, ruffling Dean's hair.

Dean laughed and shook off her hand. "Sometimes you're alright, you know?"

Tosh looked back at him. "I know."

----------

Tyler pushed open the bamboo covered door slowly, relishing in the cool night air as she breathed deeply. Her hands were full of take-out boxes since Tosh and Dean hadn't had a chance to eat. Sam caught up with her and took the boxes from her hands. She smiled up at him and he smiled back.

"Thank you for dinner." She said, pushing her hair from her face, fighting the wind. Sam smiled.

"Well I did have to pay three hundred dollars to take you to dinner so I'm glad you liked it." Tyler smiled slightly.

"You didn't have to pay three hundred dollars to take me to dinner. You just decided to go that route." She said honestly with a half smirk on her face. Sam's mouth opened like he wanted to say something but he closed it again and shook his head, smiling.

"Touché." He said. She laughed and bowed slightly

"You appeared to be a worthy opponent, but I have bested you once again. I am simply too much for you. I would suggest you admit defeat." She said haughtily, raising her nose skyward and prancing toward her Mustang, the hem of her dress bouncing back and forth merrily.

"Just because you're too good for me to defeat right now doesn't mean I won't be able to learn your weakness and exploit it later." He stepped in front of her and tripped up her dignified walk. She laughed.

"Well, I do have a weakness for good-looking guys." She smiled and unlocked the door. She slid into the driver's seat and leaned over, unlocking Sam's door. He opened it and slid inside. They closed their doors at the same time.

"Hm." He said, turning and looking intently at her, asking with the sound of familiarity to the situation. "So, you think what about my brother again?" She laughed and shook her head, starting the car.

"Nothing much. No offense to him but he's too pretty. He's got a complex." She laughed. "And besides, I said I like pretty boys. Not that I like knowing he thinks he's prettier than me." She shook her head and shuddered dramatically. "Been there, done that, talked to the cops." Sam snorted and shook his head as Tyler pulled out of the parking lot, speeding down the road back to the house.

"So I've been meaning to ask," Sam began as he watched the scenery whip by. "How did you guys manage to end up being the house mothers in a sorority?" Tyler smiled and glanced over at him.

"Well, we faked our initiation papers, hacked the records, and we pay dues to the sorority." Tyler said. "Ash actually helped us with most of that stuff." She remarked, more to herself than Sam. "Anyways, we just kind of wormed our way in. Initially," she said honestly, "we didn't look forward to the whole sorority scene, but we love those girls." Sam smiled at the adoration in her voice.

"What do you guys tell them when you come back from a hunt?" She looked at him in askance. "Cuts, bruises, you know."

"Oh." She shrugged. "We take self-defense classes." She said in her silly fake voice. "Sometimes, we just get a little rough, ya know?" She fluttered her eyes and looked at him. "I just don't know. It's like I get in there and I imagine that Nat is an attacker and I just lose it." She winked a bright green eye at him with a grin.

"Wow. It's kinda scary how good you are at that." Tyler burst into laughter.

"I've had loads of practice." She looked over at him and was surprised by his look. "What is it?" Sam shook his head slightly.

"I just like your accent." He said, laughing at the surprised look on his face. "I mean the Tyler one, not the Theresa one."

"Well that is my real name." She said and shrugged. "My mom's name actually." She smiled and looked at Sam. "You know, I talk to you and tell you more than I should."

"Well, I'm not doing anything to make you talk, if that's what you're thinking." He said, shifting slightly in his seat. She shook her head.

"I don't know what it is." She stopped at a stop sign and turned, checking for people behind her. She looked over at him and smiled slightly. "You just seem to be so... understanding? I don't know. You listen really well... damn, that sounds slightly mean." She said in a rush. She stepped on the gas pedal.

"Mean?" He asked, looking at her quizzically.

"I don't know. Just... 'oh, Sam, you're such a good listener.' It's a little like saying 'I love you like a brother' to a guy that fancies you, isn't it?" She laughed nervously at how fast she was talking. "Wow. I'm really sorry about this. I am such a doof when it comes to talking to guys that I..." She smiled nervously. "Never mind." Her cheeks were tinged slightly pink.

"You're not nervous, are you?" Sam asked with a grin. Tyler glanced at him with a small smile.

"Nervous? Me?" Her voice was suddenly cold. "Never." She looked at him with eyes like green ice. Sam ruined the moment by laughing. She followed suit and shook her head.

"You had me going for a second."

"What can I say?" She laughed. "I'm terribly dangerous."

"And why is that?" Sam's smile made her stomach tingle.

"I have three older brothers."

"Wow. Three? I thought I had a situation with Dean."

"Ha. Yeah. There's just something to be said about older brothers." She glanced at him. "Although you're lucky that you're a boy. It makes it easier for you to hang out with Dean and not have your family wonder whether you'll ever get married." She grimaced. "I swear, if I ever do get married, my grandmother and her old debutante friends would all have coronaries."

"So you're not into all that debutante stuff?"

"Hell no." She shook her head. "I had one year of being 'out' and I really thought I was going to kill either myself or everyone else around me. All those girls... it's like they never imagined a fate for themselves other than getting married to a rich man and having babies. The modern times may as well have never happened." She shook her head. "God, I talk a lot."

"Don't worry about it." Sam said softly. "I'll let you know if you bore me." Tyler laughed.

"I'm not sure that you would." She admitted, pulling into the parking lot of the sorority house. She shifted into park and turned off the ignition, turning and facing Sam. "I really like talking to you, Sam, but I don't know if it's the best thing to be doing." She shook her head.

"What? Why?"

"It's just that Tosh and I are a team. It'd be like you going and talking to someone without Dean about Dean." Seeing the look on his face, she raised her eyebrows. "Never mind. Bad analogy." She cleared her throat quietly. "Besides, you're asking me all the questions. I haven't gotten to ask you almost anything." He held out his hands in a welcoming gesture.

"Ask away." He turned and faced her.

"Why does Dean call you 'Sammy'; is he the only one?"

"Dean calls me that because he's Dean." He shook his head slightly. "He's my older brother and he's been looking after me for my whole life." Tyler nodded.

"That. That I get. It's how I got the name 'Tyler' after all. My brothers." She said, shaking her head. "So no one else calls you that?"

"Well, it's not really something that comes up often in conversation. We mostly talk to other hunters that have known us forever or people that we've never met before." He laughed. "We're usually talking about other things, you know?" Tyler smiled.

"Yeah." She shook her head. "Wow, _Sammy_," she teased, "you sure are easy to talk to." She batted her eyes at him. "Just like another brother." He reached out and touched her mouth to stop her. Her eyes widened at the contact, a smile quirking her lips.

"Please don't say that, even as a joke." He said quietly. He shook his head. "It's hard for a guy to hear that when he likes you." He said shyly.

Tyler looked over at him with surprise. She opened her mouth to reply and jumped as Tosh knocked on the driver side window. Tyler eased her hand away from her gun and sighed, pushing her bangs from her eyes.

"Hey! Are you coming in the house or not?" Tosh demanded to know, leaning against the glass with an ugly face. Tyler rapped the glass where her friend's face rested and shook her head. She glanced over at Sam and shrugged.

"Ah... I guess we'll talk later..." Tyler said quietly, looking down at the steering wheel.

"Yeah... yeah." Sam agreed, running his hand through his hair nervously. Tyler leaned a tiny bit closer.

"Now who's nervous, Sammy?" She asked softly, laying a light kiss on his cheek as she leaned over and unlocked the door by jiggling the lock. "Trick door." She whispered, trying to ignore the feeling in her stomach at being so close to Sam. She leaned back over in her seat, not noticing how he almost followed her over into her seat. He smiled nervously and shook his head.

"Don't know what you're talking about." He said quietly as he opened the door and got out. She did the same and locked the doors with her keys, slipping them into the small pocket of her jacket.

Tosh walked next to Tyler as the three of them walked towards the front door of the building. She kept glancing at the two of them as they walked, making a face at the guilt written on their faces. They reached the stairs where Dean waited in silence. As Tosh and Tyler moved up the stairs, Sam brushed Tyler's hand with his own.

"See you later." He said quietly. She nodded, smiling at him.

"Tomorrow." She winked and quirked her lips at Dean as she turned around and went upstairs with Tosh.

Tosh waited until Tyler was concentrated on the steps and then turned to Dean and mouthed _I told you so, Deanie Boy!_

Dean shrugged his shoulders and followed Sam, who was also oblivious to Dean and Tosh's little hidden conversation.

----------

Tyler tossed the keys to the Mustang on the counter amid the books and newspapers already living there. She slid her jacket off and hung it on the hook by the door before turning and smiling at Tosh.

"You sicken me." The brunette said, tossing her nose into the air as she walked towards her room. Tyler ran and caught her, wrapping her arms around her.

"Aw, Tosh, you know you're glad that I had fun tonight." She said soothingly, calming the savage beast that was her best friend. The brunette sighed before patting Tyler's arm.

"Yeah, well, you still make me want to throw up with your sappy smiles." Tosh said, patting Tyler on the top of the head. "Now go to bed, you little tart, you smell like embarrassment and seventh grade crushes."

Tyler laughed, shaking her head and squeezing her friend tightly in a hug before releasing her.

"Night, Tosh." Tyler said, entering her room with a smile. As she shut the door, she didn't see her friend's worried look as she locked the front door.

"Night." Tosh said softly, turning to look around the room before going into her bedroom and shutting the door quietly.

----------

**A/N: **blah


	5. Going It Alone Together

**A/N: **Sigh. So, here is chapter 5 and even though we should be working on our pottery project, we couldn't resist updating again. :)

This chapter definitely has the AU thing we were talking about. We decided that, since it's fanfiction and we aren't getting any money anyway, why not play with the plot? So here's our version of a few key events that have happened in the Supernatural universe.

Enjoy it and see you at the bottom!!!

----------

**Climbing Up The Walls**

**Chapter Five: **Going It Alone... Together

**By: **kripke's keepers

----------

Tosh blinked and sat up in bed as the phone rang again, the shrill sound cutting through her consciousness and making her wince. She fumbled for the phone and knocked it off the bedside table onto the floor. Mumbling curses, she kicked at the tangled blankets and fell onto the floor with an 'oomph,' touching the phone just as it stopped ringing.

"Well shit." She mumbled, turning over onto her back and staring at the ceiling.

"Bloody hell." She heard Tyler mutter a few seconds later as her phone started ringing in the tone that she used for all hunter numbers. There were more muttered profanities as the blonde stomped out of bed and got to her phone. Tosh sat up and leaned on her bed, looking through the open bathroom doors at Tyler.

"Hello?" Tyler asked, closing her eyes and leaning her head on her hand. She heard the sound of gasping and someone screaming hysterically. She sat up, suddenly wide awake and looked at Tosh, motioning for her to come in. "Hey! Is anyone there?" Tyler demanded to know as Tosh sat next to her on the bed.

"_Tyler._" The blonde shivered at the sound of her name. It was filled with anguish and sorrow. She pressed the button for speakerphone and held the phone out in between the two of them.

"E-Ellen?" Tyler asked haltingly, not sure if it was the woman. There was a sound like a sob and the screaming picked its way into howls and shrieks.

"_Yeah._" Ellen's voice was soft, filled with something unlike anything the two girls had ever heard. "_They... they burned it down._" They could hear the tears welling in her voice and both of them winced.

"Ellen, honey, burned what down?" Tosh asked softly, squeezing her hands together.

"_The Roadhouse... they burnt the Roadhouse..._" She heard Ellen full on start to cry now and what they assumed to be Lenny's voice as she screamed the word 'Uno' over and over again.

"Oh!" Both girls said, looking at each other with hurt in their eyes. Tyler suddenly paled. "Ellen... did... is Ash okay?" Her eyes filled with tears as she asked the question, ignoring the shock on Tosh's face. The older woman started sobbing.

"_He was inside._" She moaned as she sobbed. Tyler squinted her eyes together tight and the tears poured down her face. Tosh's eyes clouded over and she looked away from Tyler as she started to cry. She wiped the tears away the second they touched her cheeks and gently took the phone from her friend, wrapping her free arm around the blonde.

"Ellen. Honey, can you make it to Bobby's?" Ellen made a sound of affirmation. "Alright, then you get there and we'll be there as soon as we can, okay?"

"_Okay._" Ellen took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, the sound of tears already almost gone from her voice. "_I'll... I'll see you when you get there._"

"Okay. Bye hon." Tosh closed Tyler's phone and placed it on the bedside table, wrapping her other arm around her friend and hugging her tightly. "Shh. Shh. It's gonna be okay, babe." Tyler shook her head against her friend's body.

"No it's not." Her voice came out muffled. Tosh stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head in a rare moment of tenderness.

"Not right now, it's not okay, but someday it will be. We just need to be there for Ellen and Lenny right now." Tyler leaned up with a gasp.

"Oh god, Lenny!" She jumped off the bed and started grabbing clothes, heading towards the bathroom. "We've got to go, Tosh. Lenny..." The brunette nodded, slipping through the bathroom and into her room, closing the door behind her.

When Tosh emerged from her bedroom, Tyler was filling a second thermos with coffee, the first one already taking a whole pot. She tossed Tosh a bag with a sandwich and pickle in it and shoved her own into the pocket of her red leather jacket. She smoothed her hands over her black button up shirt a couple of times while Tosh flavored her coffee and almost jumped out of her skin when Tosh laid a hand on her shoulder.

"You okay?"

"Yes." She sighed, pushing her bangs from her eyes. "I'm just... It just doesn't seem real right now." She walked towards the door, jingling the keys in her hand. "A few hours ago, I was flirting with a cute guy and having a good time and now..." Tosh looked up at her.

"And now?"

"Oh." The blonde said and flipped open her cell phone. The brunette shot her an inquisitive look as she turned on the television and left the stove light on, but shut everything else off. She locked the door behind them as Tyler started walking down the stairs.

"What's going on?" Tosh asked softly, the soles of her boots making almost no noise on the old wooden stairs. Tyler waved her comment away and started whispering into the phone as she walked out the front door of the sorority house.

Tosh locked the front door behind them and followed Tyler as they walked towards the Mustang, the glossy shine of the paint job sending twinkling dots of light into their eyes as they got closer. Tyler unlocked the trunk for Tosh and then moved to the driver's side door, opening it and sliding the other part of the arsenal out from the seat.

"Who did you call?" Tosh asked as she loaded a shotgun with salt out of habit. She stopped herself and picked up some of the special bullets they had gotten from Lenny and loaded her pistol with them. Tyler sighed as she slipped knives into their sheaths in different places on her body.

"I called the Winchesters." Tosh almost dropped one of the bullets but caught it at the last minute. She let out her breath in a controlled motion, putting her hands on the trunk and resting her weight there for a few seconds.

"Why?" Came her surprisingly calm response.

"Because they knew Ash too and because it's not like they've got any other family other than Bobby and Ellen." Tyler reasoned, the last of her hidden defenses sliding into place. She slid her leather jacket back on and ran her hands over her smooth silhouette.

"I will never understand how you do that." Tosh said as she stuck her gun in the compartment under her arm. Tyler looked a question at her. "How you have more weapons than a street gangster and you still wear skin tight jeans and button up shirts and no one notices."

Tyler smiled at her friend just as the Impala pulled up. She pulled her emergency duffel bag from the back and Tosh did the same. Tyler locked the doors to the Mustang and patted her baby softly for comfort before walking over to the Impala with Tosh and sliding into the back as Tosh slid into the front.

"What's with your brother?" Tosh asked softly as she glanced back at the drowsy Sam. Dean shrugged.

"He's been tired for days. I stopped asking." His hands were white from gripping the steering wheel tightly.

Tosh was sort of relieved that she wasn't the one that caused it this time before she remembered what it was that had caused it. She sighed and rested her cheek on her hand, looking out the window as Dean pulled off campus and sped down the highway towards Bobby's house.

In the back seat, Tyler shifted slightly to find a more comfortable position and felt a light brush on her hand. She looked down at her right hand resting on the seat, the glint from her silver thumb ring catching her eye before she looked up at Sam's eyes.

"Hey." She said softly so as not to be heard over the Led Zeppelin song playing on the radio. Sam took a short breath and squeezed her hand.

"Hey." He replied, looking down in slight surprise as Tyler laced their fingers together and squeezed tightly. "You going to be okay?" Tyler shrugged, looking out the window before replying softly.

"I'm going to be fine, eventually." She blinked away the start of tears. "It's Lenny I'm worried about." Sam looked up from their hands and locked eyes with her.

"You know Lenny?"

Tyler smiled almost sheepishly. "Surprise?" She laughed slightly and shook her head. "She just wouldn't have said anything to let you guys get anywhere too close to us." She bit her lip. "We're the only family she has..."

Sam was silent and Tyler stared at the scenery passing by, remembering another journey to the Roadhouse, a long time ago, it seemed.

_"Are you sure she's going to be okay with this?" Lenny asked idly, rubbing the bridge of her freckled nose absently as the Mustang tore down back roads towards the Roadhouse. Tyler smiled at her in the rearview mirror._

_"Of course." She turned the wheel suddenly and Lenny slid around in the backseat, clutching her few belongings to her chest._

_"And we're not telling anyone that you brought me here because..." Lenny trailed off. Tyler laughed._

_"Because if Ellen thinks that you did this by yourself, she'll have no choice but to let you stay and I promised Ash that I would take care of you." She locked eyes with Lenny for a split second in the mirror before looking back at the road._

_"Oh." Lenny said quietly, clutching her laptop case close to her body as Tyler made the Mustang skid to a stop on the side of the Roadhouse. _

_Lenny got out of the car and put her book bag and duffle bag over her shoulders, carrying her laptop in the case across her stomach. She walked up to Tyler's window and the blonde smiled at her._

_"I have some presents for you. This is from Tosh." She handed the girl a sawed off shotgun. Lenny blinked at Tyler who laughed. "She wanted to be here, but she has finals in the next two days." She turned and held something in her lap. "Close your eyes, Lenny." _

_The girl complied, feeling a breeze kick up and send her newly chopped and tangerine colored bangs into her eyes. A small, warm bundle was put into her hands and she looked down to see a pair of dark grey eyes looking up at her._

_"Oh!" Lenny breathed, overjoyed. Tyler scratched her head, looking uncomfortable._

_"I know it's not as practical as Tosh's gift, but I figured he'd be able to make you feel a little better on lonely days." Lenny looked at the blonde who had a sad look on her face. "Ash said you love card games, so here." She handed the girl a collar with a bone shaped charm hanging from it. 'Uno' was etched in slightly tilted letters on the charm. "I don't know… I just thought the name was cute… you can change it…" The blonde's voice trailed off as she looked at the girl in front of her._

_"Thank you so much, Tyler." Lenny breathed, looking at the blonde with tiny tears in her eyes. She leaned forward and kissed Tyler's forehead, surprising the older girl into laughter._

_"Take care of yourself, Lenny. Ash said he should be back soon." Tyler glanced over at the bar. "And be sure you watch out for Amos. He's harmless, but he'll steal all your money in Texas Hold 'Em." She shifted the car out of park and smiled at Lenny as she pulled away._

_Lenny stood there, looking slightly forlorn as she walked up to the door of the Roadhouse, shotgun in one hand, Uno in the other, the sunlight glinting off of Uno's silvery-white fur as Tyler turned around a bend and lost sight of them._

"Tyler?" A hand rested on her shoulder and she automatically gripped the wrist, going to squeeze and twist before another hand fell on her other shoulder and she got a small shake. Her eyes flew open and she saw Sam's face hovering in front of her.

"Wha- Sam?" She blinked her eyes a few times and shook her head, shrugging off his hands and got out of the Impala, shutting the door on his question. She turned and ran in front of Dean and Tosh towards the junkyard, weaving through the piles of cars. She slammed into the front door and shook the handle.

"Bobby!" She called, trying to open the door. She heard footsteps and the door unlocked. She was face to face with Bobby who took in her tearful expression in a glance and motioned her inside. "Hey." She tossed to him before he completely left her mind.

"Ellen!" Tyler said, hugging the older woman tightly. She pulled back and looked into Ellen's face. "Where is she?" Ellen motioned to the back door and Tyler released her, going out the back door as Tosh and the Winchesters came through the front door.

"Where is she going?" Tosh asked, hugging Ellen tightly. Ellen pulled back and glanced out the window to where the tangerine haired girl was sitting on top of a pile of cars, head down. Tosh followed Ellen's gaze and her sigh was sad.

"So what happened?" Tosh asked, motioning for everyone to sit down. Ellen sighed, falling onto the couch and pushing books out of her way.

"We went out for pretzels…"

----------

The sun beat down on the junkyard, the wind whipping up the dust and sending Tyler's long blonde hair whipping around her face as she walked towards the large pile of cars where Lenny was perched. She stood at the base of the pile, looking up at the girl on top who ignored her hair frothing in tangerine waves around her face to stare out at the view of the countryside.

When Tyler finally managed to climb up to the top of the pile, she almost fell backwards, scrabbling to hook her hands into something to keep from falling down. Lenny's hand shot out and grabbed Tyler's wrist, pulling her back onto the roof of the car. She settled down and sat tailor style next to Lenny. The tangerine-haired girl sat with her knees pulled up to her chest, her shoulders hunched.

Without warning, her eyes started tearing up. She started crying, her shoulders shaking as her head dropped into her arms. Tyler hesitated slightly before she reached over and rubbed Lenny's back, scooting closer. Lenny held back for a few seconds before leaning into Tyler's side.

"I'm so sorry, Lenny." Tyler whispered, staring out at the mountains. Lenny didn't say anything, only crying harder. She looked over at the blonde and touched her cheek with damp fingers, her sobbing growing softer.

"Why?" She whispered, closing her eyes.

"I don't know." Tyler said just as quietly, her inner voice cursing her for lying. She inhaled slowly and composed herself.

"Mom and Dad… now Ash…" Her eyes misted over with a fresh wave of tears. "U-Uno…" Tyler nodded, hugging Lenny across her shoulders. The younger girl dug her fingers into Tyler's red leather jacket.

"I don't…" Lenny started before she fell silent, leaning up and looking at Tyler. Her gray-blue eyes were the empty brightness that they were at her oddest moments. Her face slipped into a crooked smile. "You hear that?" Her voice was tinny, hollow sounding. Tyler looked in the direction that Lenny pointed then back, surprised to see that she wasn't next to her anymore. She leaned over the side and watched as Lenny slid down the side of the cars like a monkey.

"Lenny!" Tyler called, scrabbling clumsily down the sides of the cars. She got to the bottom with a hole in her pants on her right knee and a slice across her left palm. She squeezed her hand tightly and looked at Lenny's retreating back as she loped around a corner.

"Damn." She muttered, limping back into the house and shutting the door quietly behind her. Everyone looked up at her when she walked in and she nodded to them as she ran her hand under cold water. She patted it softly with a cloth, wincing when Tosh pressed on it to stop the bleeding.

"She okay?" Tosh asked softly, her head down as she bandaged Tyler's hand. Tyler shrugged and winced when the brunette prodded the gash on her knee.

"She heard something." She commented softly, pulling her knee away from Tosh's hands and sitting on the counter, inspecting her knee. She looked up and then away as Sam caught her eyes.

"She'll be back." The brunette breathed, looking out the window to see a flash of tangerine hair as the girl ran barefooted through the maze of cars. She shuddered at the thought of the diseases one could get from walking barefooted in a junkyard and turned to lean her back against the counter.

"You okay?" Sam asked as he stood and moved toward Tyler hesitantly. Tosh sent him a glare and he backed off, holding up his hands in surrender. Tosh winced when she got a slap to the back of the head. She turned around angrily and opened her mouth to snap at Tyler but the blonde put her finger on Tosh's nose.

"Stop it." She gave Tosh a look. "They're all we've got." She said quietly, glancing away to spot Lenny's hair beneath the window. She leaned over the sink and watched as a huge black shadow trailed behind her. She shuddered and shook her head, turning back to look at everyone in the kitchen. Bobby cleared his throat and everyone turned and looked at him.

"I hate to seem insensitive, but I've caught wind of something in Philadelphia, something leaving nothing but dried husks behind it, resembling a burning without any fire evidence." The four young hunters looked at each other and exchanged silent questions.

"We'll take it." Dean said, leaning forward and clasping his hands on the table. He took the file folder from Bobby and flipped it open. "So this is probably going to be good for all of us to take." He commented more to himself than to anyone else. He stood, sending Ellen a nod before he headed toward the door.

"We'll see you soon, Bobby. Ellen." He motioned to Sam who stood and made his way toward the door, Tosh following behind him. Tyler jumped as Lenny's face pressed against the window and the girl kissed the glass near Tyler's face. The blonde smiled and rapped the glass, hopping down from the counter and heading towards the door. She ran her hand over Ellen's as she walked by and clapped Bobby on the shoulder.

Tyler slid into the Impala and sighed, feeling suddenly so much heavier than she did when she woke up that morning. She put her head in her hands and breathed deeply, savoring the chance for a hunt to get out some of her frustration.

Sam glanced at her when he got in and she sent him a soft smile. He put his hand between them, resting it on the seat as he looked out the window. She wanted to reach out and take his hand but could only stare at her own, her cut bleeding through the binding on it already. She flexed her fingers and stared out the window pensively.

Tosh and Dean slipped into the Impala at the same time and the brunette girl glanced back at the two silent hunters in the backseat.

"So…" She said, trying to break the silence. Dean rolled his eyes and turned on the radio.

"It's easier to do it this way, you know." He commented to the brunette with a small smile.

She smiled back until she remembered where they had just come from and where they were headed. Her smile slipped from her face as she stared out the window, catching sight of a tangerine-haired girl standing on top of a tall pile of cars, waving to them as they drove away. She slid her hand into the wind and waved until the girl slipped from sight.

"Bye." Tosh breathed, wondering for a bleak moment if she would ever see Lenny again.

----------

Tyler smoothed her hands over the collar of Tosh's suit jacket, the brunette holding still and frowning at the primping. The blonde made a face back at her friend and shook her head.

"Alright, Agent Cash, that's just fine. If you want to be the sloppy cop then you can. But Agent Tango," she slid her hands down her sides and framed her smoothly suited silhouette on the concrete in front of them, "she will be stunning." She smiled cheekily at the brunette.

"You are such an idiot." Tosh said, running a hand over her neatly done hair, noting that the "neat" cop had her hair down and flowing free about her shoulders. Tyler ran up and pounced on her friend, knocking both of them over into the grass behind the hotel.

Dean leaned against the wall of the hotel and watched the two friends throw each other around and scream like children. Sam walked up next to him and handed him a beer. They both sipped their drinks and watched as the two girls ended up on the ground laughing and staring at the sky.

"Tyler took that really hard." Dean commented off-handedly. Sam nodded, his eyes narrowing in thought.

"I noticed." He answered quietly as the two girls got up and tried to get all the grass off of themselves, making them laugh more. They stumbled towards the Winchesters, their arms around each other and tears of laughter running down their cheeks.

"Hey." Tyler said, smoothing her clothes down. Tosh followed suit and held out her hand for the keys. Dean hesitated for a split second, then handed her the keys to the Impala. They shared a look and she turned to walk to the car. Tyler glanced at Dean and touched Sam's arm as she walked away, slipping into the passenger seat of the Impala. They pulled out of the lot and sped off into traffic.

"Hm." Dean said softly, turning and going back into the room. Sam watched the Impala until it disappeared around the corner before going back inside, the wheels in his head turning.

----------

Tosh reached up to the door in front of them as Tyler looked around, surveying the nice suburban neighborhood. There was the sound of footsteps and the door opened slowly.

"Yes?" Asked a kindly, middle-aged woman.

"Mrs. Wenton, I'm Agent Tango, this is Agent Cash." Tyler said genially as Tosh smiled. "We're with the arson division of the FBI." The girls flashed their badges and the woman nodded.

"What can I do for you?"

"We were wondering if we could ask you a few questions about your son." Tosh said, her country accent making the woman smile slightly.

"Alright." She motioned for them to come inside and gently shut the door behind them. She led them into a simple living room. She sat on the couch and watched them as they sat across from her. "I have to warn you, I already talked to the local cops about this." Tyler and Tosh nodded, glancing at each other.

"We've read their reports, but sometimes the cases can be made or broken by a misplacement of the tiniest detail. We just want to make sure that we've got our facts straight, Mrs. Wenton."

"Holland, please." The two hunters quirked their mouths in slight smiles. Holland returned their smiles. "Yes… like the Holland that's all windmills and flowers." She said with a tiny laugh. She shook her head and cleared her throat, trying to blink back tears.

"Holland, what happened to your son?" Tosh asked gently as Tyler glanced around the room and noted all of the pictures.

"Todd has always been a little quiet. He just isn't a loud person. Wasn't…" She mumbled, clearing her throat again. "Anyways, he was a great student, always straight 'A's and never got into any trouble. The local cops say that it was a fire. That my son was playing with fire and burned himself up." She looked up at them with confusion in her eyes. "If that's the case, why is my house still standing? There's no burn marks on anything else in the house. His bedroom is spotless."

"How did he get in his bedroom if there were no burn marks anywhere?" Tyler asked. Holland shrugged.

"That's what I didn't understand. When I touched his hand, it fell apart like ash. How could someone have moved him when I barely touched him and he fell to pieces?" She asked, shaking her head. "I asked the locals and they just said that it had to be fire. Something spontaneous, but fire nonetheless." She shrugged and looked over at a picture of what the hunters assumed to be a younger Todd, playing in the mud.

"May we see his room, Holland?" Tyler asked. Holland nodded, standing and leading them down the hallway to a door.

"I can't go in…" She said, turning and walking back down the hallway. "I'll be out here when you're done." They nodded and opened the door on a room that looked like a ridiculously clean version of any teen boy's room: unmade bed in the corner, piles of books and magazines, a cluttered computer desk filled with odds and ends of a computer technician in the making. There were no old dishes or trash of any kind anywhere. It smelled clean, like fresh laundry. They glanced at each other and shrugged, looking around.

"It's weird. Nothing that even smells like fire." Tyler commented, standing next to the bed and crouching down to inspect the sheets. She rubbed a small bit of remaining ash between her fingers.

"What do you think it was?" Tosh asked quietly, looking at the magazines.

"Dunno." She glanced over and noted the pet cage sitting on a table near the closet. "Hampster?" She asked, the brunette turning and shrugging. They left the room and walked in to see Holland in the kitchen, stirring some lemonade on the counter. She smiled up at them.

"Hey Holland, did Todd have a hamster or something?" Tyler asked, leaning against the counter.

"No." She said, frowning. "It was a rat. It was disgusting. I don't know why I ever let him keep it." She shuddered. "Now the little thing is gone and I'll just bet that it's in my house somewhere." She shook her head and smiled. "But Todd was fascinated by it. He used to hold it and watch movies with it. It never left his side. Don't know why I even bought that cage. It never lived in it."

The two hunters glanced at each other and nodded. "Alright, Holland. Well, we're going to go now. We'll let you know if we find anything new, okay?" Tosh said kindly. Holland smiled and nodded, following them to the front door. She stopped them on the front porch.

"You don't think I'm crazy, do you?" She looked out at the neighborhood and studied the people chatting or mowing their lawn. "For thinking that my son wasn't just burned in a fire that couldn't have happened?"

Tyler and Tosh shook their heads. "No. We don't think you're crazy." Tyler stuck her hands in her pants pockets and looked at Holland intently.

"We'll find what did this, Holland." Her voice was soft. Holland nodded, not questioning how they would do it or how they knew something was amiss. She smiled softly at them and shut the door. They walked down to the Impala and Tyler raised her hand for the keys. Tosh tossed them to her and slid into the passenger seat.

"You've got a look." Tosh commented as Tyler stared out at the road. The blonde shrugged and her eyes narrowed.

"I'm just tired." She said as she drove back towards the hotel and pulled into a burger joint. She rolled down the window of the Impala and glanced at Tosh. "You okay?" She asked.

The brunette shrugged and put her head back against the head rest. "I guess so." She sighed. "I just can't understand why." Tyler raised her eyebrows and studied the menu closely.

"Dunno." She said, studying the burger menu. "Salad or chicken…" She mumbled, noticing a small black puddle underneath the board. She suddenly gasped with the force of her realization making Tosh jump.

"Damn! What the hell is wrong?" The brunette demanded, looking at her friend with wide eyes.

"I know what it is." Tyler stated, pulling out of the line and speeding back toward the hotel. "Maybe." She said, her forehead creased in thought.

"Well what is it?" Tosh asked, digging her fingers into the arm rest on the door to keep from being thrown against her seatbelt.

Tyler didn't answer, only running over the facts in her mind. She pulled into the hotel parking lot and threw the car in park, jumping out and leaving Tosh sitting inside the car. She ran into the room and let the door slam against the wall. Sam and Dean both looked extremely startled and had guns pointed at her.

"I need your laptop." She panted at Sam. He nodded and handed it to her, already open from his research.

"What's the matter?" Sam asked, looking up as Tosh walked more sedately into the room and shut the door behind her. Tyler didn't answer, only sat down on the floor and started tapping away on the keys, the glow from the screen illuminating her face. She looked around in askance and Tosh sighed, digging her red-framed glasses out of the bag and handing them to the girl.

"Thanks." Tyler muttered, pushing her glasses onto her face and studying the information she pulled up. She scrolled through the information, clicking a few things away, and finally sat up straight and smiled.

"Hah!" She said, pointing at the screen. "It's a Mornicout." She looked up at them and they all looked at her in confusion. She sighed. "It's a creature that 'rides' its host, sort of like a supernatural parasite, and it slowly saps the life out of them. But, when it wants to go somewhere else or look for better food, it sucks the life right out of them and becomes strong by using all the victim's energy and," she paused, looking at them, "leaves nothing but ash behind. It appears that the body has been _burned_." She sighed and shook her head. "I really hope it doesn't know we're after it."

"Is that why you sped home so fast?" Tosh asked, reclining on the bed sans shoes. Tyler nodded.

"If it finds out that we know about it, it could come after us."

"What does it look like?" Dean asked, tilting his chair back onto its back two legs.

"A small black blob, apparently." Sam said, reading over Tyler's shoulder. She turned and smiled up at him. "It has the ability to take whatever shape it wishes but prefers the form of a long wyrm or dragon-like creature, the better to stay concealed in clothing." He looked up and grimaced. "That's gross." He said quietly as he looked at pictures.

"The scary part is that they took these pictures…" Tyler said, making a face. She shook her head and sighed, standing and handing Sam's laptop back to him. "We have to track it and set fire to it."

"Mm." Tosh said, leaning back on the pillows and crossing her arms over her chest. "That should be fun. How the hell do we track something like this?" Tyler looked at her and smiled, pulling a small wooden box from her bag. She set the box on the table and started taking out many little trinkets and putting them to the side.

"Wow." Sam said, pulling up a chair to the table to inspect the items. "Is this what I think it is?" He asked, holding up a thick hank of dark, stringy hair.

"Yep," Tyler grinned. "Banshee's hair." She held up several items for his inspection.

"Oh!" He said with curiosity, taking the items and inspecting them.

"It's like nerdy foreplay." Dean said from the chair. Tosh made a sound of agreement and the two of them laughed slightly. Tyler and Sam shot them looks of disdain and kept chatting about the items.

"And this," Tyler said, pulling a small vial out of the box and letting the bluish-black liquid shine in the light, "is what I've been looking for." She held it out to Sam who took it gently. "It's Eau d'Mornicout. Attracts them for some reason. We just have to set up a trap and lure the little nasty here."

Tosh leaned forward with a strange look on her face. "Where did you get that?" The brunette asked. Tyler shrugged.

"Know some people." The blonde commented offhandedly as she put the rest of the things back in the box and locked it. She handed Sam a small bag to put the scent in and turned to look at the two reclining hunters. "So which one of you wants to be bait?" The blonde asked, steepling her hands as she stared at them.

Tosh laughed and looked at Dean. "Since all the victims have been male, I'd say that this critter has a type. Fortunately, I happen not to be it." She smiled at Dean whose face twisted in frustration.

"Dammit." He said leaning forward fast and standing. "This sucks. Why can't Sammy be bait? He's a dude." Sam smiled and mirrored Tyler's position.

"I have to help Tyler with everything." He said with a huge grin. His older brother sent him a look that told him he would be sorry later and he shook his head.

"Fine." Dean said sulkily. "Man, I hate all of you." He muttered, making the other three hunters laugh. "Why does everyone laugh when I say that?"

----------

Tyler settled into the seat of the Impala, wrapping her hands around a cup of coffee. She stared into space, not taking note of the bickering going on between Tosh and Dean in the front seat or the comings and goings of the people in the neighborhood around them. Her eyes were far away as Sam turned to her and stared at her, waiting for her to notice.

He finally reached out and tapped her shoulder. She jumped and spilled coffee over her fingers and down her arm. She held it away from her body and dropped the majority of it on the carpet. Luckily Dean was too busy arguing with Tosh to notice.

"What?" Tyler asked, the color coming back into her face. Sam shook his head.

"Just… wondering what you were thinking about." Sam commented, handing the blonde a napkin. She smiled and blinked, obviously thinking of what to say.

"Uh." She said, suddenly saved by Tosh turning back and looking at her as Dean left the car in a sulk.

"Hey, Brain, when do we strike?" Tosh demanded to know, looking over at Sam and back to Tyler with a second question on her face. Tyler shrugged to the silent question.

"We should wait until he puts it down." The blonde said as she sat up straight and handed the brunette her coffee cup. Tosh took it and held it as the blonde climbed over the seat and settled herself behind the wheel. She glanced at her friend with a small smile. "Don't worry, Pinky, your boy-toy will be fine."

Tosh didn't miss a beat in slapping Tyler's arm. The blonde jumped, rubbing her skin with a pout.

"Whatever." Tosh said, leaning closer to the window to better see the black rabbit skitter away from the pale, sickly looking boy sitting in the sandbox and move slowly towards Dean who sat on a park bench. He unwrapped his burger and took a large bite, chewing slowly and pretending not to notice the black Labrador that was walking up to him.

Dean glanced over and a smile spread over his face at the sight of the dog. He snapped his fingers and tried to entice the dog over. A hot pink tongue lolled out of the dog's mouth and it trotted over to Dean, rubbing its head against Dean's hand.

Dean rose, patting his thigh and the dog followed leaving the sick boy sitting forlorn in the sandbox. Tyler started the Impala and followed Dean and the Mornicout dog down the roads near the park until Dean walked up the stairs of the house that the hunters had taken over just for this purpose.

Sam narrowed his eyes at how the Mornicout Labrador looked around before entering the house.

"Alright." Sam said, noting Dean's shadow on the blinds as the dog jumped onto the couch with him.

The three hunters moved swiftly towards the door, homemade flamethrowers in hand. They burst through the door and noticed Dean slumped on the floor.

"Shit." He said, pushing himself off the floor and motioning towards the kitchen. "It's quick." Tosh threw her hand out to Dean and pulled him to his feet as Tyler and Sam charged into the kitchen and through into the dining room.

A large black shape came from behind Tyler before Sam could warn her and threw the blonde into a side closet, the pieces of the flimsy door breaking as she fell hard on the debris and coats. Sam went to run to her and was tripped by the creature in the form of a large snake. He landed hard on his left knee, the force of the floor sending a jarring sensation up to his spine. He winced, turning and sending a gout of flame toward the creature. It hissed and swerved away, going out the way they had come in and attempting to escape.

"Dean!" Sam yelled, trying to crawl after the creature. "Tosh!" He rolled around the corner and winced at the shriek of the creature as Tosh and Dean stood over the creature, their flamethrowers on full blast. The smell of burning blood made Sam gag as he pulled himself to his feet and turned back to the closet.

"Tyler?" Sam asked hesitantly, wondering if he should move the blonde. There was a sound and he leaned closer. "What?"

"I said," she said, her voice filled with pain, "that I _hate_ Mornicouts." She sighed as Sam chuckled and tried to push herself up. "Fuck!" She suddenly moaned, her arm falling out from under her. She yelled again as she fell back onto her side.

"What is it?" Tosh asked, rounding the corner with a pale Dean in tow.

"She got thrown by the creature. She can't get out and I can't help her." Sam looked down at his pants and noted the blood staining the left knee of his jeans. "I split it open."

Tosh looked at Dean and noted how pale he was. "I'll do it." She handed him her flamethrower and pulled Tyler slowly from the closet. She inhaled sharply at the blood running down the blonde's side. "Damn, girl, can you not go one hunt without getting hurt?" Tyler laughed slightly, her hand pressing to her side.

"Obviously not. I just have something more attractive to them, I guess." She tried to keep her smile in place but it was slowly drooping at the corners.

"Come on, sweet, I'll get you patched up." Tosh said, trying to lift Tyler. The blonde cried out any way that the brunette tried.

"Let me do it." Dean finally said, stepping forward and scooping Tyler up in his arms. He started walking toward the door and ignored the puddle of blood on the carpet.

"Thanks Dean." Tyler said softly, her eyelids fluttering with the pain. He shrugged.

"No one else can do it." He said in Dean-speak for 'you're welcome.'

They all climbed wearily into the Impala to head back to the hotel and then back to Boston, Sam cradling Tyler while Tosh fell asleep on Dean's shoulder, surprising the older Winchester considerably.

----------

He watched with dark eyes as the hunters left, body held stock still as the Impala pulled away and down the street. He walked over to the charred remains of the creature and scuffed at it with his shoe before moving toward the demolished closet with interest.

He leaned down and ran two fingers through the blood on the floor, bringing them to his nose and inhaling deeply. He shuddered in delight and put the fingers in his mouth, sucking them clean.

He rose and walked out of the house, turning in the direction of the Impala before raising his nose to the wind. He stood sniffing the air for a few moments before heading slightly in a different direction and making the trek to Boston, now knowing who he was supposed to be after.

What was even better was that to get one, he could also get all three of the others.

He smiled sharply and started to run, his body blurring into the woods surrounding the neighborhood as he disappeared into the night with only one thing on his mind.

_Fun_.

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The four young hunters pulled into the parking lot of the school slowly. Sam opened his door first, moving to help Tyler out of the other side. He helped her climb onto the trunk of the Mustang and started examining the wound again since it had bled through the bandage.

Tosh and Dean followed, the brunette girl intending to fix her friend but her cell phone suddenly went off. "Hello?" Tosh asked, mopping her dirty forehead with a cloth.

"_Hey. It's me, Illysa._" The voice on the other line was grim. Tosh's half formed smile died and she looked at Tyler.

"Who is it?" Tyler asked, holding her arm over her head as Sam gently tied a bandage around her midsection, applying pressure to the wound on her side. She winced and looked at the tall boy in askance receiving only a shrug.

"It's Illysa." Tosh said before putting the phone back to her mouth. "Hey honey, what's the matter?"

"_You remember that thing…_" It sounded like she looked away then back to the phone. "_You remember the secret that you told me about you and The-Tyler?_" Tosh nodded and then made a sound of affirmation. "_Well, you also told me that if there was something… bad… I could always call. Something's been takin' the kids in my town. I only noticed now that I'm back… it's… it's got my nephew, Na-Tosh and I don't know who else to call._"

Tosh nodded, biting her lip as she remembered.

"_Who… who the hell are you supposed to be?" The girl demanded to know, pushing her long auburn hair back from her face. Tyler smiled and shook her head._

"_Illysa," Tyler started in her real voice, "we are specialists." Tosh nodded and smiled with her friend._

"_We've been doin' this for a while." Tosh explained in her real voice._

_The red-head nodded slowly, holding on tightly to the cloth that kept her arm from bleeding. She glanced at the creature crumpled on the floorboards a few feet away from her._

"_Explain everything." Her freckles stood out from her pale-with-fear face but her blue eyes were hard._

Tosh shook her head to clear the memories away and looked at Tyler.

"We'll be there soon, Illy." Tosh said, ignoring the look of shock on Tyler's face.

"What did Illy want?" Tyler asked, stumbling and crashing into Sam who caught her and smiled softly at her. She smiled back and leaned up on her feet, but stayed close to Sam.

"That legend of the tree that eats children?" Tyler nodded. "Turns out it's true. Illy remembered what we told her and she said she's calling in her favor." The brunette sighed and looked at her friend, pulling back at the look on the blonde's face. "What?"

"It took a kid that's close to her, didn't it?" Tyler asked, already knowing the answer and leaning away from the comforting warmth of Sam's chest. Tosh only nodded and moved to the side of the Mustang, leaning against the door expectantly.

"Do you want us to come with you?" Dean asked as Tosh pulled her shotgun from its holster and fiddled with it.

"Nah. Going it alone." Tosh said, cocking the shotgun and pointing it at some invisible foe, secretly wondering how Illy was handling having the only way to get her nephew back.

Tyler looked over at Tosh and blinked slightly before looking back at the Winchesters. "… Together. We're going it alone… together." Tyler said, an almost smile on her face. Tosh looked up and noted the awkwardness of her statement.

"So. Take. That. Winchesters." Tosh said, every word punctuated by a small slap on Dean's chest. Tyler laughed at her friend's terrible cover up.

"Yeah." Tyler said. "We're _super_ menacing." The blonde laughed as her friend frowned and pouted when Dean laughed at her.

"Come back in one piece." Sam called, both of the boys waving cheekily to the girls as they slid into the Mustang and took off towards New Hampshire, the glow of their headlights illuminating the night as they turned the corner out of the Winchesters' sights.

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**A/N: **Well, we got a lot of info about old friends in that chapter… it was one of the longer chapters… but the further and further we get with this story, we just notice that our chapters get longer and longer… Hm.

Anyways, we hope that you enjoyed this, truly! It has been so much fun writing this, it really kind of dominates most of our thoughts, which is dedication, but also obsession. You be the judge.

_Some shout outs: _

Thanks again to **Mrnda** for reviewing, even though she had no idea what it was really about. Thanks dear, that was very nice of you. Miss you!

Thanks also go to **maxxink**. Appreciate the review… also, if you're still reading, this is a little more insight for you about Lenny. Hope you enjoyed it.

Appreciate the Story Alerts. Also love the Favorite from **Wgang16**. Thanks!

**A little request:** please review and let us know what you think. If you like something, great! Tell us! If you don't, that sucks, but still TELL US!!!

REVIEW PLEASE!

Thanks!

Love,

kripke's keepers


	6. A Taste of Sam

Aaaaaaaaaaannnndddd we're back!

:D

So, this is chapter six, obviously, and just a few things…

Our chapters are almost never the same amount of pages. The numbers always vary depending on what's happening in the chapter, so this one's about 19 pages or somewhere thereabouts.

Almost all of our chapters also have theme songs. From now on, we will most likely be listing the music for each chapter. No guarantees, though. We are pretty lazy.

The content of this one gets a little steamy, but not too hardcore. :) So I would recommend that you enjoy it. Haha. I know we loved writing it.

Think that's about it… soooooooooooooooo…

We now present for your reading pleasure, chapter six of _Climbing Up The Walls_.

_Music_: "Climbing Up The Walls" by Radiohead

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**Climbing Up The Walls**

**Chapter Six: **A Taste of Sam

**By: **kripke's keepers

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The flames ate up the old, rotten wood quicker than Tyler would have thought possible, licking over the decrepit old courtyard surrounding the tree at a break-neck pace. She watched from a safe distance, holding the empty gasoline can and leaning against the Mustang. She held her left arm close to her body as Tosh walked up from the back of the building and leaned next to Tyler.

"Well… that was fun." Tosh said airily.

Tyler snorted, turning to look at the brunette girl and laughed. "Yeah, if you like getting beaten like a tough steak and then almost barbequed to boot." Tosh shrugged and got into the car. Tyler put the tank in the back seat and got into the car.

"Mm. But we saved those kids." Tosh said softly.

Tyler leaned her arm across the top of the door, driving quickly over the dirt road as she headed back to the sorority house, wincing at the bouncing of the car. She looked over at Tosh. The brunette had her head laid back against the headrest, eyes half closed, her right eye glued shut with blood.

"Mm." Was her only response to Tosh's comment.

Tyler looked back at the road, choosing to ignore the throbbing of her head and the blood running down her side, oozing through the make-shift bandage that Sam had tied across her ribs and the torn hunting clothes she wore. All she could think about was getting dizzy enough to wreck the Mustang into a tree so she turned the radio on, loud rock music blaring from the speakers. Tosh jumped, clutching the arm rest and looking around.

"Sorry about that." Tyler reached out and turned the music down, glancing over at Tosh. "So how you feeling?"

"Like shit." Tosh groaned as she leaned to the side and felt along her spine.

"Well... at least you feel like you look." Tyler grinned.

"Harlot."

"Whore." Tyler shot back. Both of them laughed, Tyler hunching slightly against the pain in her ribs.

"How are _you_?" Tosh asked as she pulled baby wipes from the glove compartment, slowly working her eye open against the tangled eyelashes, the baby wipes in her hands slowly turning pink.

"Fine, I guess." Tyler stared through the windshield at the road, focusing on the speed limit sign as it whipped by.

"Mm. Yeah, I'm sure." Tosh turned back to her original position.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You just seem to be a little far away... A lot's happened today." The brunette paused before adding, "Though it could be the blood loss." She smiled slightly. Tyler twitched her shoulders in a shrug.

"Yeah..."

They sat in the semi-silence, the scratchy rock music barely covering the silence in the car. Tyler sighed after a few minutes, completely turning the music off and sitting back in the seat.

"I've just been thinking about the Winchesters. I mean, Sam and Dean..." She glanced at her partner whose face was carefully blank. "There has to be _some _reason why they came here."

"Well, duh." Tosh rolled her eyes. "They came here because they wanted to hunt down the shifter that they were told about. They never would have been here otherwise."

"Regardless." Tyler flexed her hands around the steering wheel. "Regardless of that - though that is a part of it - why would we have dreamt about them? What the fuck does that even mean anyway? What's happening to us, Tosh?"

"I don't know, Ty, I don't know." She shrugged, turning and staring out the window at the scenery flashing by. "I just know that this is something that we can't let effect us. We are going to continue with our jobs just like before and we are going to ignore the Winchesters and let them walk out of our lives just as easily as they walked in." She turned furiously to stare at her partner. "We don't _need_ their help, Ty!" She bit her lip hard to keep from saying more and turned back to the window, trying to ignore the image in her mind of Dean laughing at her impressions.

Tyler turned half way to glance at the brunette. Tosh's arms were crossed over her chest and she stared moodily out the window, mentally cutting the trees and bushes to shreds in her frustration. The blonde wisely chose not to say anything, turning back to the road and turning the music back on. The rest of the drive continued in silence from both girls, the music filling the empty space in the car that was normally filled by laughing and jokes, even after difficult hunts. The matter of their individual feelings for the Winchesters seemed to be a living, breathing monster between them that they were both defenseless against.

"Damn." Tyler muttered softly, turning the music up louder.

----------

"You want?" Dean asked, holding what was supposed to be a chicken sandwich out to Sam. He shook his head and continued typing on his laptop. "Fine." Dean muttered, tossing it out the window onto the grass.

"You do know this is a campus, right?" Sam asked without looking up. Dean shrugged and took another bite of his cheeseburger.

"What I don't get," Dean started, "is why that Tosh chick hates me so much." Sam snorted quietly. "I mean, I've been nothing but nice to her." Sam full out laughed and shook his head. Dean raised his eyebrows slightly. "Well, mostly nice." He muttered, turning to look back out at the night.

"She's just immune to your charms." Sam said, looking over at his brother. Dean scoffed.

"It's not that." Sam looked over at him with raised eyebrows.

"What is it then?"

"Oh. I don't know. I just know it can't be that she's immune to my charms." Dean said with a winning smile. Sam rolled his eyes and turned back to his computer.

"I think if you treat her more like an equal, she'll be nicer to you." Sam said absently. "As of right now, you've been treating her like she's only worth talking to because we need her and her partner."

"Uh, news flash, Sammy," Dean said sarcastically. "That is why we've been talking to them." Sam shook his head.

"I know that, but you should at least try to be friendly. We're hunters, Dean. Most of the time, the only people that hunters have to rely on is other hunters." He turned and stared out the window. "Which sucks sometimes." He mumbled. Dean snorted.

"You're just saying that because you have the hots for Tyler." Dean said with a smirk. Sam shifted uncomfortably in his seat and frowned slightly.

"That has nothing to do with this." Sam muttered, his eyes roaming over the text on his screen.

"Mhm." Dean said, turning around and looking back out the window. "I guess the fact that we're going to be sleeping at their place tonight doesn't have anything to do with anything either." He turned a sideways glance at his brother who sat in silence, his forehead creased in a frown as he stared too intently at his computer. "You've been looking at the same screen for twenty minutes." Dean commented quietly.

Sam sighed and shut his laptop hard. He turned and stared at Dean with raised eyebrows.

"Anything else you want to say now that you've completely distracted me?" He asked.

"Yeah. Why is it that Tyler seems to hate me too?" Dean asked. Sam rolled his eyes and opened his computer again.

"I don't know. Both of them dislike you, but Tosh actually seems to like you more than Tyler even though Tosh is the one who is always yelling at you and starting things. Tyler barely acknowledges your existence." Sam sighed. "Why don't you go take a walk?" Sam asked. "You're driving me crazy." Dean nodded solemnly.

"That's an awesome idea." He said, getting out of the car and shutting the door happily.

"Wait!" Sam called, leaning over to look at him. "Why are you so happy?" Dean leaned over and smiled, holding out his hands.

"Take a walk at night around sorority town? Ha! No problem." Dean leaned up and shoved his hands into his pockets, strolling down the street as Sam shook his head.

"Figures." The younger Winchester muttered as he picked up reading where he had left off.

----------

"You know they're going to be waiting for us outside, right?" Tyler tossed to Tosh as they pulled onto the campus. She glanced around before pulling into the parking spot behind the building. Tosh remained silent, frowning as she threw the door open and slammed it harder than necessary. "Hey!" Tyler called. "You don't have to be mean to my baby!" She leaned down and rubbed the side of the Mustang with her hand. "Don't worry, sweetheart. The mean lady won't hurt you anymore."

"Oh hah hah." Tosh rummaged through the trunk and placed all the gear back except for her gun and a few knives. "Really, Ty, you love this car a little too much." Tyler shrugged slightly, pulling the shotgun from the front of the car and placing it in the back and sliding her sword into the compartment behind the seat.

"You're trying to change the subject." Tyler leaned against the door of the Mustang and stared at the brunette girl in front of her.

"Well, what if I don't want to think about the subject?"

"It doesn't change the fact that the Impala is over there and I can see the boys getting out and heading over here." Tosh turned and glared over her shoulder. It went unseen in the dim light and Tyler laughed slightly. "Also, I don't think that it changes the fact that they are going to be staying with us in the house tonight so that we can plan what we're going to do." Tyler held up her hand against Tosh's protest and pulled her friend closer. "We should talk to them and see what's what. It's not fair to judge them by a tiny mistake, Tosh, and you know it." She paused. "Ash is gone, Tosh. Hunters have only hunters. That's how it is." She stared at her friend meaningfully and the brunette sighed.

Taking the sigh for agreement, Tyler raised a hand to Sam and Dean as they headed over to meet them. Dean jerked his head in response while Sam rewarded them with a small wave.

"Hey Ty." Sam smiled and Tyler returned the smile, letting Sam take her bag from her hands and laughed slightly at Sam's widened eyes. "You're still bleeding from your side?"

"Yeah. I don't know why, but I guess the sucker got me deep." She smiled up at him. "I'm glad you got me patched up in time or I might have ended up a lot worse than being in a little pain still." Sam smiled, looking down and away.

"It wasn't a big deal."

Tyler laughed and held her left arm against her body as she and Sam walked towards the house. "Don't know about that."

Tosh watched them walk toward the house, glaring and not noticing that Dean fell into step with her. She stalked her way up to the front stairs before she caught sight of him out of the corner of her eye. She whipped around and glared at him, standing on the step above him.

"You're really close right now."

"Well, you are standing in front of the door."

"But you don't have to be right on top of me." Dean smirked and stepped up onto the same step as Tosh and grinned down at her. There was less than an inch of space between them.

"Trust me, baby, if I was on top of you, I'm sure you wouldn't be complaining." He laughed slightly, leaning even closer. The brunette froze as Dean moved closer. She suddenly jumped to the next higher step.

"Listen, you overbearing arrogant jerk. You think that just because you've been raised to hunt and you've got serious skills and you're all hot and dark and sexy doesn't mean you don't have issues the size of Mt. Fuji and it also doesn't mean that you're going to be able to get anywhere _near_ me." Dean raised his eyebrows at the furious girl in front of him.

"Did you just say that I was sexy?" He grinned and she threw her arms up in frustration with an exasperated sound as she went inside.

"I can't win." She cried. Dean laughed and shook his head.

"No you can't, baby." He pulled the door closed and locked it behind him.

----------

Tosh reached over, grabbed the scissors, and snipped the bandage ties around Tyler's ribs. She pulled her sleeves back and surveyed the wrap. Looking at all of Tyler's other bandages, she gently took her left arm into her lap. Tyler winced and closed her eyes against the pain.

"Well, the good news is that you didn't break it. It's just a sprain, thank goodness." Tosh said, slowly winding the arm in an ace bandage before putting the brace on it.

"Yay. Sprain." Sam gave a soft smile down at the table as he cleaned the knives and Dean cleaned the guns.

"Yay indeed." Tosh fastened the last Velcro strap and tweaked Tyler's nose. Swatting her friend's hand away absently, Tyler stood and stretched, reaching as high as she could without wincing in pain.

"Well, I feel like shit warmed over so I'm going to bed." Tyler walked over to the table and hugged Sam's shoulders in a light squeeze. "Thanks again for your help, Sam."

"No problem." He grinned. "Good night. Let me know if you need anything." Tyler nodded and turned away from them.

"Well," Tosh said as she followed Tyler into her room, "I don't think she'll need to go across the living room for anything she'll need. Night!" She shut the door to Tyler's room and locked it.

"What was that all about? Do I really need to say it again?" Tyler asked wearily as she sat heavily on the bed.

"What was what? Say what again?" Tosh busied herself with picking out Tyler's pajamas and pulling off her shoes. Tyler put her right hand on Tosh's shoulder.

"You know that they can't replace you, right?"

"Oh god, Ty, don't get so freaky sentimental on me, okay? I understand you're woozy from blood loss and getting slammed into a wall a few times, but that's really no excuse for such crazy gaga talk." Tyler leaned back against her pillow and laughed slightly.

"You did not just say that I was talking crazy 'gaga', did you?"

"What if I did?"

Tyler turned and stared at the brunette. "I'd have to kill you." The blonde said dryly. Both of them burst out laughing.

"I really do think you need rest." Tosh stood up and stretched. "If you need anything, you know where I am." Tyler nodded and smiled at her partner as she went through the bathroom door to her own room where the she lay down on her bed without changing clothes. Tosh was asleep within seconds.

"Lucky." Tyler muttered and tried to get comfortable. "It's gonna be a long night."

----------

Tyler shifted and turned over, leaning on her left side. Her eyes opened for a second and she groaned. She didn't know why she had moved until she heard the quiet knocking at her door. She laid there and stared at the door.

"Mm. Tosh? What do you want?" She heard her friend roll over in her bed and Tyler looked through the bathroom to see Tosh still sleeping. "Shit." Tyler slowly rolled out of her bed, standing up slowly. She bent down and came back up with a gun in her right hand before walking over to the door.

"Who is it?" No voice answered, just another light knock. She pulled the chain lock off of her door and slowly opened it with her left hand, keeping the gun up behind the door. Sam's face, colored strangely by shadows and various lights from the apartment, met her eyes and she let out a little sigh of relief.

"Sam? What is it?" She rubbed her face with the back of her hand.

"I'm sorry I woke you up. I couldn't sleep and I thought I'd come and see if you were okay." He grinned. "I thought maybe I could be the one to walk across the living room and offer to get you something." Tyler laughed slightly and shook her head, pushing the door open and turning to walk back to her bed. Sam closed the door behind her and followed her. Tyler lay back down on her bed and Sam gently closed the bathroom door before sitting on the edge of her bed, turning to look at her.

"So how are you feeling?" Sam's eyes ran over her body quickly.

"Hm. Fine, I guess. I'm going to be sore for a while, but I'll manage." Tyler rolled onto her right side and ended up curled around Sam. "I'm just really tired."

"Can I ask you something?" Tyler nodded. "When something like that happens to you, don't you get scared? Don't you wonder if you're ever going to be okay again or if maybe this isn't the job for you?" Tyler propped her head on her arm and stared at him for a moment before looking away and answering.

"Well yeah... there are times when I don't know if I'll ever open my eyes again and I can't breathe sometimes because I'm so scared... but I know... I know that what I do, what I risk myself for, is to save innocent people, something I haven't been in a while." She laughed slightly and looked at him again. "This being right for me… well, no, I don't really like this job and I hate it sometimes, but it seems like this is what I was meant to do. I have to help people... and I have to take care of Tosh." She smiled slightly, the smile tinged with bitterness. She looked at Sam and was surprised at the sadness in his eyes. She reached up and cupped his face, trying to figure out what he was thinking.

"If you're always taking care of other people and Tosh..." Tyler rubbed her thumb over Sam's cheek when he paused, urging him to go on. "Who takes care of you?"

She laughed slightly before sighing and going to pull her hand away. Sam caught it with his own and held it there. She looked at him, her eyes searching for some meaning in what was going on. He leaned a little closer.

"Well?" He asked.

"I... I don't know." She looked away and sighed. "I don't need anyone to take care of me anymore." Sam slipped his other hand under her cheek and turned her head back to look at him.

"What if it's not about needing, but wanting?" Tyler stared at him, unsure of what to say. He continued, "What if you want someone and you don't realize that you also need them? What if... what if, for tonight, that person could be me?" He raked his eyes over her face. Tyler kept it carefully blank.

"Sam... Sam, I-" He cut off her voice with his mouth on hers. Tyler's eyes flew open in surprise. She pushed his chest slightly and they parted. "Sam, I don't want to hurt you, really, but I don't know if this is right." He stared at her, waiting for her to go on, and ran his hand up and down her uninjured side, stopping and squeezing her hip. She closed her eyes and shivered slightly. "S-Sam... please, I..." She opened her eyes and he hovered there, waiting for her answer. He ran his tongue slowly over his lips and that was all it took.

Tyler reached up and pulled Sam closer by the collar of his shirt, locking onto his mouth with her own. She pulled him closer and he threw his leg over hers, sliding his knee between her thighs. Tyler moaned slightly, tearing her mouth away from Sam's and biting and kissing her way down his jaw and neck. Sam slid his hand along her left side, barely grazing the wound on Tyler's ribs. She sucked her breath in sharply and squeezed Sam's upper arm, relishing in the firm muscle under her hand. Sam locked his mouth on her neck, biting slightly and sucking, kneading her skin between his teeth.

She pulled hard on his arm until more of his body rested against hers, relishing the way that he still held himself tense above her. She slid her hand along his side to his lower back, her hand playing over the muscles as she brought her hand up to the base of his neck. He slid his hand to the base of her neck and pressed his lips to hers. She bit on his bottom lip and sucked, hard, causing him to deepen and harden the kiss. Sam ground his hips against Tyler's, causing her to tear her mouth away from his and moan. Her hand slipped from the back of his neck to his arm, her fingers digging into his muscles. A small moan passed his lips and Tyler's hand slipped from his arm to the mattress, clutching at the sheets as he slid one hand up to cup her breast.

His other hand slid slowly toward her left arm. He locked his fingers around the brace and began to squeeze, growling in pleasure at her small whimper of pain. Tyler's eyes flew open and her eyes flew to her bracelet. It glowed, the little piece of metal trying to dance its way off the hook. She bit down hard enough to draw blood from Sam's neck. He roared in pain and squeezed her arm even harder, calling a scream of pain from her too. Sam laughed as she tried to wriggle away from him. He held her tight with his legs, holding her underneath himself by putting all his weight on her.

"Sam, what are you doing?" She asked, looking at him hard, her eyes sweeping over him and finally resting at his eyes.

"What's wrong, _Ty_?" He asked mockingly. "Don't you like this? I just want to take care of you." His mouth opened in an evil grin. Tyler panted with pain and the effort not to pull her arm away from his grasp.

"You're not Sam." She spat at the thing. He laughed.

"How'd you guess?"

"You're on your left knee, _Sam_." She nodded down to their entangled legs. "You could barely walk without limping earlier. There's no way you'd be leaning on it so much." She shook her head. "And besides, Sam isn't so cruel."

"Hm. Don't know about that." He mocked. "There's a lot you don't know about little Sammy." He laughed. "Come on, you know you want me to be him. I can feel how much you want him. How much you _need_ him." She turned her head away from him.

She could hear Tosh banging on the bathroom door, demanding to be let in. She stopped beating on the door and Tyler could hear her running across to where the guys were sleeping. She suddenly felt a sharp pain on her side as the thing on top of her dug his fingers into her wound.

"Why aren't you paying attention to me, Ty?"

"God! What do you want from me?!" Tyler screamed into his face. He smirked and leaned close, kissing her neck and biting slightly on her earlobe.

"You. Dead." He whispered, biting on her neck again. She tried to remain calm and breathe evenly. "But before I do that, I want to have a little fun first." He squeezed her hand until one of her fingers popped and she screamed.

"What the fuck are you?!" Tyler screamed. She looked into his face and gasped at the light reflected in his eyes. "Shape shifter. Where the hell did you come from?"

"Doesn't matter. You're not going to live long enough to care." He jerked his head forward and bashed it into Tyler's. She groaned, her head slamming against her headboard and her vision going spotty for a few seconds. She could hear pounding and thought it was in her head until she heard her name being called.

"Tyler!" Tosh was beating on the bathroom door again. "TY!" Tyler heard her run around to the other door that was already shaking with kicks that Dean was aiming at it.

"Tyler!" She heard the real Sam's voice and glanced over at the shifter crouched on her legs.

He smiled and went to jump. She slid her hand from the sheets up and under his chest as he jumped on top of her. She smiled sweetly into his face as he gasped, trying to breathe. He slowly slid off of the bed and onto the floor, Tyler's silver knife sticking out of his chest. She sighed, slowly pulling herself from the bed, trying not to fall as she walked to the bedroom door.

She reached over and unlocked the door, standing to the side so the kick that Dean landed wouldn't send the door crashing into her. The door slammed back into the wall and the three of them rushed in, looking around and holding their guns, brandishing them in their pajamas. Tyler laughed slightly.

"Oh my god, Tyler!" Tosh rushed over to where her friend was leaning against her wall. "Are you okay? What happened? Are you- wait, why are you laughing?"

"You all look ridiculous." Tears started running down Tyler's face as she laughed harder and harder.

The three of them looked at each other. Tosh was wearing a pair of boxers and a tank top. Dean was down to his boxers and Sam wore a T-shirt and a pair of pajama pants. Each one of them had a gun and a knife of some sort as well as tousled "sleep" hair.

"Are you okay?" Tosh asked, taking Tyler's face in her hands. "You're acting loopy."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, Tosh." Tyler smiled and gestured to the shifter's body on the floor. "He's not though." She lifted her eyes to Sam's for a moment before looking down at the ground and wiping the tears from her face with the back of her hand.

"Holy shit! What is that?!" Tosh jumped up and pointed her gun at Sam. "What happened?"

Dean jumped up and aimed his gun at Tosh. Sam stood there, not moving, looking from Tosh to Dean to Tyler. He looked at Tyler pleadingly and for a split second, she didn't know what to do, what to believe, because of her fear. She finally sighed and shuffled in front of Sam, pushing Tosh's gun down.

"Stop it. This Sam is real. That Sam over there is a shape shifter." Tosh put the gun down by her leg and turned with Dean to look at the shape shifter.

Tyler leaned against the wall, her knees buckling. Sam reached out and grabbed her upper arms as she fell. Tyler jumped back with a cry, falling out into the living room. Sam went to help her but she held up a hand.

"No offense, Sammy, but I don't want your help right now." She hoped using the sweet nickname would help get rid of the harshness. She glanced up, registering the hurt in his eyes, and back at the floor as she pulled herself up with the door frame. She caught his arm as he turned. "But I appreciate it." She gave a small smile and shuffled past him into her room.

"Well, it's a shape shifter alright. Damn, Sammy, this is the first time I've ever seen one turn into you." Dean smiled a little. "It's actually kind of refreshing." Tosh rolled her eyes.

"Oh shut up, would you? We have to figure out something to do with it." She glanced at Tyler. "And what it's even doing here."

"Well I think it's obvious as to what it's doing here." Sam looked at Tyler. "It was after Tyler, but _why_ is what I'm wondering."

"Who knows?" Dean put in, leaning against the desk. "What I do know is that Tyler totally wasted it. Kudos." He smiled at Tyler and she shook her head.

"Barely in time." Her voice was quiet.

"But why was it after you?" Tosh demanded. "What did it say?" Tyler turned and looked at her.

"I don't want to talk about it. I just want to take a shower." She looked down at herself and the blood that covered her tank top and shorts.

"Okay. Go get cleaned up. We'll take care of this." Tyler nodded and unlocked the bathroom door, disappearing behind it. The sound of the shower turning on signaled the three of them left in the room to move to the living room.

"We have to get this out of my house." Tosh said as she leaned on the kitchen counter, pressing the on button on the coffee maker. She took a container from the cabinet and poured the contents into the coffee maker with the water.

"What are we supposed to do with it?" Sam asked, sitting at the kitchen table.

"I don't know! We just have to get it out of the house. The girls are already going to be awake, wondering what the screaming and banging was all about. And," she glanced back towards the bathroom, "I don't want Tyler to get out of the shower and this thing to still be here." The two guys nodded and Dean stood up, turning to Tosh.

"I'm going to need you to come with me." Dean jerked his head at the brunette girl. She opened her mouth to protest, but Sam beat her to it.

"You can't leave her alone here." He paused to make sure the shower was still going. "I mean, she's completely freaked out."

"I know. That's why you're going to stay with her." Dean smiled.

"What? Dean, she's terrified of me, of my face. I don't know what happened in there, but you heard her screaming." Sam shook his head. "I'm not staying here and scaring her worse."

"Well I can't walk down the stairs by myself with a body over my shoulder and not expect the girls downstairs to freak out. I need a house mother to escort me and since one of them can barely walk here, much less down the stairs, there's only one choice. I also need a hunter to help me get rid of this thing. Tosh is the best thing right now. It's almost six now. We don't have a lot of time." Tosh gritted her teeth and nodded.

"As much as I hate to say this, Dean is right. Sam, you have to stay here, look out for her. Maybe she'll relax enough to tell you what happened." Sam shook his head in doubt but sat back down at the table. Tosh turned to Dean. "Let me change and we'll go." He nodded and went to the guest room to get his clothes.

Sam sat forlornly at the table, sighing and looking around. Dean came out of the room with a small bag over his shoulder and looked at Sam. He seemed unsure as to what to say to his younger brother. He opened his mouth to try and Tosh walked back into the room.

"Ready?" She asked, walking towards Tyler's room to get the shape shifter. Dean nodded and lightly punched Sam's shoulder. The younger Winchester shook his head and rolled his eyes.

The two hunters lugged the shifter into the living room before pulling the knife from its chest. Tosh tossed the bloody knife onto the counter and got a blanket from the couch. She and Dean wrapped the body in the blanket and Dean picked it up like a sick person.

"Okay, we'll be back soon." Tosh said, very much the worried house mother all of a sudden. "Call us if you need us." She turned to go and Dean looked at his brother, rolling his eyes as he walked out of the room, making his way to the stairs. The shape shifter's head slammed into the doorframe and Dean almost fell from laughter before righting himself.

"Bye Sam." Tosh called before shutting the door. Sam heard the lock snicking into place just as the shower turned off.

"Crap." He muttered, staring at the bedroom door.

----------

Dean and Tosh walked down the many flights of stairs, Dean carrying the shape shifter over his shoulder as Tosh, walking in front of him, watched out for any girls going to an early class.

"Why did we have to take the stairs?" Dean grunted, sweat slowly dripping down his face.

"The odds of a girl taking the stairs as opposed to the elevator at _this _time of the morning are very slim," Tosh replied, constantly looking around them.

Just as those words exited Tosh's mouth, Dean saw a dark figure coming toward them. The lights were off in the stairwell, so he couldn't quite make out what was there. Dean grabbed and slightly squeezed Tosh's arm, pulling her to him, her back to his front. Dean leaned down, his lip next to her ear.

"I think you spoke too soon," Dean whispered, and then let her go and gently pushed her forward toward the shadow. Tosh could now make out that it was Heather.

"HEATHER! HEY BABE!" Tosh exclaimed with manufactured excitement, careful to slur her words to appear drunk.

"Hey!" Heather said, out of breath. She was carrying an insane amount of books for her small frame, her dark brown hair falling behind her and her glasses sitting, barely crooked, on her still sleep-glazed hazel eyes. "What in the world is going on _here_? Who is that, and what is he carrying?"

"Oh! Him? That?" Tosh said in mock surprise, slightly swaying her body "This is my date from the fundraiser, silly." Heather smiled and nodded at Dean who nodded back. "I have a project in Forensic Science and I kept a dum…..dum….." Tosh hiccupped for emphasis. "A dummy overnight. I forgot to take it back yesterday and Dean is helping me take it back. Isn't that right sweetie pie?"

Without warning Tosh turned away from Heather and lunged her body toward Dean, and pressed her lips against his. When she pulled away, she could see that his eyes were a mixture of surprise and sheer terror. Tosh lightly giggled.

"Right?" Tosh urged.

"Right." Dean replied immediately.

Tosh turned back to Heather. "Isn't he the greatest?" Tosh said dreamingly.

"Oh yes! You've got yourself a keeper. Guess it was good that I did that, huh?" She laughed sleepily. "Be sure to sleep it off soon, okay? Well, I've got to get to class. Tell Theresa hey for me. See you around." Heather said, walking past them, squeezing beside Dean.

"Okay! See you around!" Tosh said.

Dean and Tosh were outside mere seconds later marching toward the Impala. Tosh opened the back door and Dean lugged the shape shifter in and shut the door. Most of the drive was silent between Dean and Tosh, Metallica's instrumental _Orion_ swelling throughout the car, both passengers deep in thought, Tosh staring out the window and Dean concentrating on the road. After many minutes, Dean reached over and turned the radio down.

"Where are we going to go to take care of this thing?" Dean turned to Tosh.

Tosh answered without tearing her eyes from the window. "I know a place. Turn left after the next stop sign, then turn right and keep going.

Tosh had led them to many acres of woods, far away from civilization. Dean gave Tosh an inquisitive look.

"What?" Tosh said, "I come here sometimes."

"Right…" Dean said, the wheels in his head obviously turning.

"Just forget about it." Tosh said with a sigh.

"Forget what?" Dean said.

"That kiss." Tosh walked around to the back to open the door for Dean, never meeting his eyes.

"Which one?" Tosh glared at him. "Whatever, man. It just surprised me, that's all." Dean said with a shrug.

"I had to make it look real, didn't I? As real as the look on your face afterwards." Tosh replied curtly.

Dean was hoping that she didn't see that. He reminded Tosh of a little boy getting caught doing something wrong when he said, he voice low. "Tosh, I..."

"_Save it_. Just drop it, okay? I'm used to this sort of thing, alright? I'm not a looker, okay? I get it. Especially growing up how I did… Never mind. Let's just nip this thing in the bud. Make yourself useful and grab some shovels. You have shovels, right?" Tosh dragged the thing out of the back and waited for Dean, not looking at him once.

Dean shrugged in resignation. Even though he had a way with women, with lots of women, he knew when he had been beaten, when there was simply nothing more to say.

After what seemed like days, Dean and Tosh where finished digging the massive hole in which to burn and bury the shape shifter.

"Jeez, this hole is big enough to hide the whole Terra Cotta army!" Dean said with a slight chuckle as the flames rose high, disintegrating the corpse.

"Yeah. Listen, thanks for helping me out, man." Tosh said, trying to alleviate the pressure between them.

"Sure. Whatever," Dean replied.

Sweaty and grimy, they made their way back to Tosh and Tyler's house. Tosh fell asleep early on. Dean glanced over at her. Hell, he wished he could sleep too. Just to get away from everything that had happened in the past few days.

----------

Sam stood up then sat back down, unsure of what to do with himself. He stood again and went into the kitchen and pulled two coffee mugs from the cabinet. He was deciding whether or not to pour the coffee into the mugs when Tyler walked out of her room in another pair of pajama pants and a baggy Harvard hoodie.

"Hey." She muttered, walking toward him but keeping the island between them. She hesitated before walking up next to him and reaching for the bigger mug next to his hand. She smiled slightly as he laughed and she poured her coffee. She turned and leaned her back against the counter, motioning for creamer. Sam opened the door to the fridge and looked inside. He turned back with a lost expression on his face. The whole bottom shelf of the refrigerator was filled with different types of cream. Tyler laughed at the look on Sam's face. The tension suddenly flowed out of the atmosphere, the two of them far more relaxed and smiling slightly at each other as Tyler leaned over and grabbed the regular creamer.

She downed half the cup after she stirred the creamer in and refilled the cup, taking the creamer and the coffee pot with her to the living room. She sat on the couch and placed the coffee pot on the table before she motioned for Sam to sit in the chair.

"You don't have to be so awkward, Sam." She said, smiling. "It's nothing you did." Sam hesitated, and then finally sat in the chair across from the TV and a little ways away from Tyler's perch on the couch. He kept glancing at her, watching her reactions to the cartoons they were watching and noting how much coffee she could drink in one sitting.

"So…" Sam started after they had been sitting and watching TV for a half an hour or so. She rolled her head along the back of the couch and looked at him. "Tosh said that I should interrogate you about what happened." Tyler laughed softly.

"Oh did she now?" Sam shrugged.

"Yeah." He said, pushing the hair from his eyes. "But if you don't want to, I understand."

Tyler's playful smile faded and was replaced by a thoughtful frown. She stayed silent and looked out the window for a few moments before saying anything.

"I don't really know what to tell you." She replied, still staring out the window. "I guess I just didn't think about the fact that..." She glanced over at him before looking away again. "Well, needless to say, I should have found it weird that you were even in my room that late in the first place, much less that you kissed me." She cleared her throat slightly, the tops of her cheeks turning vaguely pink.

"I- _it_- kissed you?" Sam turned slightly to face her, resting his arms on the high arm of his chair. She nodded, pulling her sleeves halfway up her arms.

"Yeah. Yeah he did... among other things." She turned and mimicked him. "It was weird. I should have guessed that something wasn't right when he started saying exactly what I was thinking. Er, well, exactly what I wanted him to say..." She said more to herself than to the guy in front of her. She laughed. "I think you put something in this coffee."

"Well, Tosh made it, not me." Tyler sighed and shook her head.

"Figures. Brandy probably. Always loosens my tongue and I'm so used to it I can barely taste it." She held her cup out for Sam to smell. As he put his nose to the mug, he caught the tang of alcohol. "Alas, I may not be a light-weight, but I befriended the taste so well I don't even think twice sometimes." Sam's eyebrows rose.

"Really? And how did that come about?" Tyler laughed, tossing her damp hair over to one side. She ran her fingers through it slowly, drawing Sam's eyes to her golden locks.

"Well, you know we were friends with Ash from MIT?" Sam nodded. She continued softly, "He was living with Ellen at the Roadhouse and we decided to go and hang out with him for the summer." She smiled slightly at him. "You guys know all about our family life, so that shouldn't surprise you. Anyways, we were hanging out and learning some cool knife tricks, typical hunter things to do when a 'pretty young thang' shows up, when Ellen suddenly tosses me an apron. 'You mind lending me a hand?' she asked, like I had a choice once the apron was on." Tyler laughed. "I bartended for the whole summer. Drank the whole summer. Realized that Jose is _not_ my friend... all summer." Tyler leaned against the arm of the couch and smiled. "I did learn a lot though." One or two tears rolled down her cheeks and she wiped them away impatiently.

"Huh. Well that wasn't what I was expecting." Sam muttered, pulling a laugh from Tyler.

"What did you expect? Some story about how I was an alcoholic or one of those overly indulged young debs?" She smiled, shaking her head. "I gave everything up when I came to America. Almost all of my family abandoned me. My grandmother still talks to me because she wants to brainwash me into coming back, but my dad..." She paused, looking up and realizing what she was saying. She cleared her throat before continuing. "My brothers want me home, but they're my brothers. I don't expect anything different from them." She looked at him and smiled. "So, you have any other siblings?" She asked with a crooked grin. Sam smiled.

"You do know that I can tell you're changing the subject, right?"

"Yeah. I was hoping that the two cups of coffee you had would be enough to make you forget but no such luck." She smiled and leaned her head on her hand. "Alright, Sammy, do your worst."

"If you don't mind me asking, what did he say to you?" Sam's face was thoughtful, his body language somewhere between eager for the truth and expecting the worst news he had ever received. Tyler hesitated to answer. She curled up and faced Sam, running her eyes along the lines of his face and the form of his body underneath his pajamas before letting them land on his eyes.

"He said..." she said lowly, causing Sam to lean closer, "that he wanted to be the one that I needed. Someone to finally take care of me instead of the other way around, for once." She turned haunted eyes to Sam's face. "It was scary how much he knew. He told me that I needed to be taken care of, but in a way that I wouldn't fight." She shuddered. "It's amazingly terrifying how well they can adapt to get what they want."

"Did he tell you?" She turned and looked at him in askance. He waved his hand. "You know, what he wanted." She nodded.

"Yeah." She inhaled slowly before answering in a whoosh, "Me. Dead." Sam's face became thoughtful.

"But why? What is it about you that-" He paused glancing over at her. Tyler laughed.

"You mean what is it about me that makes me so damn special?" She laughed, shaking her head and catching her hair in her hands. "The truth is that I don't know. I really wish I did. I really shouldn't have screamed. He probably would have told me more." Sam shook his head.

"No. I don't think that would have been a good idea in the long run." Tyler shrugged and leaned back against the couch.

"Whatever you say, Sammy." She smiled and closed her eyes. "It's not like I'm anything special that needs to be saved." She muttered her words slowly, drifting off to sleep.

"Tyler?" Sam asked. The blonde girl didn't answer. He rose and sat next to her on the couch, leaning close to her. "Tyler, I have one more question." Tyler blinked and opened her eyes, looking at Sam and smiling slightly.

"What is it, Sammy?" She reached her hand up and ran her fingers down the side of his face. He smiled slightly and grasped her hand tightly.

"When Tosh was aiming her gun at me..." He trailed off, waiting to see if there was any recognition in Tyler's eyes. She nodded. "She was going to shoot me but you stopped her. Why? How did you know I wasn't another shape shifter as me?" Tyler didn't answer for a few moments and Sam worried she had already fallen asleep. When she spoke, her voice made him jump.

"I didn't."

"Then why did you say that?" She shrugged, leaning closer and tucking her head between his neck and shoulder.

"I guess my problem is that I trust too much." She laughed bitterly. "And that I always want things that I can't have, for my own good or theirs." She sighed as she said it and Sam was struck with the sadness in the sigh.

It took him a few moments for the implication of the statement to settle in. He realized what she had meant and went to say something to Tyler only to discover that she was asleep, nestled in his arms. He had wrapped his arms around her without realizing what he had done. As soon as he realized what had happened, he also realized that he didn't care. It felt so good just to shut his eyes and pretend that everything was okay.

Tyler shifted slightly in her sleep and put her arm over his waist. He squeezed her slightly in a hug, relishing in the feeling of being able to hold someone without fear of them turning into something awful or doing something evil. He drifted slowly off to sleep, listening to the fuzzy sound of early morning cartoons, the humming of the heater, and the slow inhale and exhale of Tyler's breathing.

----------

Dean pulled his beloved Impala into the parallel parking space in the back of the dorm. Tosh was still asleep and slightly snoring. Dean hated to wake her up, but didn't want to carry her and make things even more awkward.

"Hey, Tosh," Dean whispered, gently rubbing her shoulder to awaken her.

Tosh's eye's slowly opened. "Are we here?"

"Nope. I just woke you up to be a tremendous jackass." Dean said, his lip curling up in amusement.

"Za zing! Nice one. Ha ha ha." Tosh answered sarcastically, alarmingly alert for someone who had just been asleep.

Dean and Tosh walked up the stairwell together. Finally making it to their floor, Tosh got out her keys, unlocked the door, and walked in.

The first thing she saw was Sam and Tyler curled up together on the couch. Dean walked up behind her and saw the scene as well.

"I guess Sam really does like her." Tosh said in a monotone.

Dean looked over at her and was surprised at the look in her eyes. Her eyes that were usually filled with calculation and slight judgment were now filled with something else, something different. Longing, maybe? Dean didn't have time to decide as Tosh abruptly turned to him with her usual expression.

"Go take a shower and I'll make you a pallet by the window." Tosh said.

"That's fine with me." Dean said, exiting toward the bathroom.

Tosh waited until she could hear the water running and then she started laying down different comforters on an air mattress she found in the closet. She spent a lot of time making sure it was perfect, which surprised her. She was also careful not to wake Sam and Tyler up, the two of them looking so peaceful on the tiny couch.

She heard Dean come out of the shower. Dressed in a clean white shirt and flannel plaid boxers, Dean came into the living room and looked from Tosh, to the pallet, and then to Tosh again.

"Here you go," Tosh said, handing Dean a fresh pillow. She left to head to the bathroom, wanting to start her own shower when she heard Dean.

"Yo, Tosh!" Dean whispered.

"Yeah?" Tosh replied.

"Thanks. For everything," Dean said, a small smile on his face.

"Sure. Whatever," Tosh said going to the bathroom, echoing what Dean had said earlier to her.

Tosh took a long shower, the hot water washing away all the grime of the day and easing her tense and aching muscles. When she finally got out after what seemed like hours, she checked on everybody, making sure everyone was okay. She never knew when exactly she started doing this, but it was sort of a tic of hers. She couldn't sleep until she knew that everyone under her roof was okay and that the doors and windows were locked. Even though Tyler never knew it, Tosh always checked on her.

Tosh covered Sam and Tyler with an extra blanket. She even checked on Dean and saw that, somehow, he had kicked off his covers and the cold air from the slightly cracked window was making him shiver in his sleep. Tosh walked over and did her best to close the dilapidated window and then kneeled beside him.

"Goodnight," Tosh whispered in Dean's ear, covering him up with the discarded cover.

Looking around the loft, double-checking herself once more, Tosh breathed a weary sigh and shuffled into her room.

----------

**A/N: **YAY! Haha. This was definitely a fun one to write, we'll tell you. It's a little complicated, we'll admit. A lot of stuff has happened to the hunters within the past two days. Haha. We are so cruel to our characters. :) If you have any questions, or are confused, please let us know.

Anyways, some definite thanks are in order. (We should have replied to you by personal message if you have an account on .)

We appreciate the reviews and the feedback from **maron771121, moira4eku **

That's all for now!

See you soon! Remember: Be true, review!

Laters!

kripke's keepers


	7. Falls and Breaks

**A/N:** Heya kids. Advice for this chapter: get a snack, curl up somewhere comfortable, and tuck in for a hearty installment of _Climbing Up The Walls_. Talk to you at the bottom!

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**Climbing Up The Walls**

**Chapter Seven: **Falls and Breaks

**By: **kripke's keepers

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The sun slowly rose over Tyler and Tosh's dorm, showering the rooms with different shades of orange. Tyler was the first to wake, scratching her eyes and taking in her surroundings. Suddenly, everything that had happened the night before flooded into her memory. As she blinked rapidly she could still see the shape shifter with Sam's face looming over her. She scanned the room, seeing Dean, still asleep and sprawled out on his pallet. Then her eyes met Sam, also still asleep curled up next to her. With a heavy sigh, she slowly detangled herself from Sam, not wanting to wake him up. After she was successful in doing this, she heard her stomach rumble.

"Well, now is as good a time as any to start the most important meal of the day," Tyler whispered to herself, heading for the kitchen.

Tyler found eggs and bacon in the fridge and proceeded to turn the stove on and place a skillet on the surface. Before she could get some eggs in the pan, she heard movement from the living room. Upon looking to see who it was, she could only see a little tuft of brown hair.

"Hello, Sam," Tyler greeted, smiling as she cracked an egg with another egg.

"Hey Tyler," Sam said, walking into the kitchen and looking into the pan and back at Tyler. "You break eggs with eggs?"

"Yes I do," Tyler replied, grinning. "It's just always been how I've done it."

"Must be an English thing," Sam retorted.

Tyler gave him a look as she poured the eggs into the skillet, still not sure how comfortable she was with him when she was sober. "Whatever."

Sam chuckled as he watched Tyler stir the now sizzling eggs. "So, while Dean and Tosh are still sleeping, I was just wondering..." Sam paused for a second, looking down at his hands. "Are we good? I mean, after all the stuff that happened yesterday...I mean...well..."

"I know what you mean," Tyler said, cutting him off, and putting the eggs on a plate a bit nervously. "And we're good. That water is now under the bridge." Tyler lied smoothly, handing the plate to Sam. "Dig in before they get cold, but leave some room. I'm starting on the bacon next." Tyler said, with a half smile.

Just as the bacon started frying, Tosh entered the kitchen, scratching her head and yawning.

"HAPPY FALL BREAK! MUHAHA!" Tosh yelled, faking an evil laugh. "Let us see what we can get into this time, eh Ty?"

"Holy crap, is that this week? Man, if it will be anything like last year, we better get ready to be prepared!" Tyler replied, non-chalantly flipping the bacon.

"What happened last year?" Sam inquired.

Tyler and Tosh made eye contact and completely lost it, laughing loud and long.

"Forget I asked..." Sam said, taking another bite out of his eggs.

"Where's Dean?" Tosh asked looking from Sam to Tyler.

"He's still asleep. Actually, go wake him. He hates being asleep while others are awake." Sam replied.

"Gladly," Tosh responded, practically skipping to where Dean lay, and kneeling beside him. Playfully slapping Dean on the face, Tosh yelled, "Wakey wakey, hands off snakey!!!!"

Dean grunted, pulling himself up. "And good morning to you too!" Suddenly, his eyes got wide, almost like a kid's. "Is that bacon I smell?"

"Tyler's cooking it," Tosh replied, as she ruffled Dean's hair, stood up and walked back into the kitchen to sit on the counter that Tyler wasn't working on.

Dean half walked half jogged to the kitchen.

"Is it done yet? Please tell me it's done!!" Dean said.

"Almost. Hold your horses," Tyler said, as she flipped the strips of bacon one last time and drained them on another plate.

"Dig in," Tyler said.

Dean pounced on the bacon, shoving a piece hungrily in his mouth.

"Geez Louise, don't take them all!" Tosh said, grabbing a strip of bacon, earning a look of mock hatred from Dean.

The phone rang in the kitchen. Tyler was the first to grab it.

"Hello?" Tyler said.

_"Hey Tyler, it's Ellen. Is Tosh there too?"_

_"_Yes she is, in fact the Winchester boys are here too."

_"Well that's even better because this concerns them too. I heard through the grapevine that Harvard's fall break is this week. Now I _know _the boys don't have anything going on, but are you two free?"_

"Yes mum, we're free, at least right now, to our knowledge."

"_Oh good!"_

Tyler heard Lenny squeal in the background.

"_If it's not too much trouble, I'm trying to get the Roadhouse rebuilt and back to up and running. I want it done soon but don't have enough money to hire laborers to come and rebuild and you know that me and Lenny will take forever to do it by ourselves. Will you four help me out? I don't have anything to pay you with, other than food on the table and a haphazard roof over your head, but any help would be greatly appreciated."_

"It's more than fine with me, let me check with the other three." Tyler put the phone receiver to her chest and turned to Sam, Dean, and Tosh.

"How would you feel if we spent Harvard's fall break helping Ellen and Lenny rebuild the roadhouse?"

"It won't be as crazy as our last Fall Break, but I'd absolutely love to," Tosh replied.

"So would we," Dean and Sam nodded in agreement.

Tyler put the phone back to her ear. "It's on, Ellen. We'll be out to Nebraska as soon as we can. We'll leave here in about an hour."

_"That's great!" _The relief was apparent in Ellen's voice. "_See you when I see you!"_

"Bye bye Ellen. Take care of yourself."

"_I sure will. Bye bye."_

Tyler hung up. "Well, it looks like we know how we're going to spend our fall break this year," she said, retreating into her room to pack, her three friends following suit.

After about an hour, as promised, Tosh, Tyler, Sam, and Dean were inside the Impala, ready to go. It would take roughly 27 hours to get there. They all decided to drive for roughly 13 hours, stop in some cheap flea-bag motel, and then wake up early to drive in remaining 14 hours and arrive at Ellen's late.

"SHOTGUN!" Sam yelled, plunging himself into the Impala.

"He says that like it's a good thing. I hate riding shotgun with _him_," Tosh whispered aside to Tyler with a light chuckle.

"I heard that, miss!" Dean said, sliding into the driver's seat.

Tyler and Tosh got in, Tosh behind Dean and Tyler sitting behind Sam. Dean cranked up the radio high, Metallica and AC/DC meshing together like a blurry life story. Dean, rather annoyingly, sang along to every tune at the top of his lungs, Sam jumping in occasionally.

"Kill me now!" Tosh yelled over the music

"That can beeee arrannnnnged!" Dean sung.

Tyler and Sam laughed and exchanged looks. The ride went on like that for hours, the road seeming to never end. Sam was the first to doze off, Tyler second. Dean looked in his rearview mirror at Tosh.

"Hey Tosh, is there a spoon back there?" Dean asked with a grin on his face.

"Excuse me?" Tosh said, a look of disdain on her face.

"A s-p-o-o-n!" Dean spelled out for her, overly patient.

"I see a white plastic one in front of me... do you want it?" Tosh said, reaching for the spoon and handing it to Dean.

"Abso-freaking-lutely!" Dean said, looking back quickly to snag the spoon from Tosh's hand.

"But your not even _eating _anything..." Tosh said, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Little lady, this spoon is most certainly not for eating. Check this out, I used to do this to Sam when he was younger. Let the prank wars begin!" Dean slowly inserted the spoon comically into Sam's gaping mouth. With one hand on the wheel, Dean got a picture on his cell phone.

"Let's wake these lazy bones up, huh?" Dean said, turning up his radio and startling Tyler and Sam. Sam realizing he had a spoon in his mouth and the sheer look on Tyler's face made both Tosh and Dean laugh hysterically.

"What the hell, man? Please tell me you are not starting this again..." Sam said in an irritated tone.

"Come on, every good road trip has a prank war. It's a simple fact of life." Dean glanced in his rear view mirror. "And females are not immune. So get ready."

"Shit..." Tyler said with displeasure.

"Freaking awesome," Tosh responded. Tyler looked over at her in surprise. Dean lightly laughed in acknowledge to Tosh.

And the prank wars started. Sam struck second when Dean got out to pump some gas and get food inside of a random gas station. Sam placed a plastic rat in Dean's seat.

"Dean hates rats. If anything will make him scream like a girl, it's this." Sam giggled. "Just be sure to act cool when he comes out and he won't suspect a thing."

Dean came out carrying a bag with an assortment of snacks and drinks, his unsuspecting grin almost causing Tyler and Tosh to lose it, but for the sake of the joke, they remained calm.

Dean handed his purchases to Sam. "Here, Sam. I got some stuff for the girls too." Dean sat down in his seat.

"What the hell?" Dean said looking between his legs.

"What is it, Dean?" Sam said covering his mouth with his hand to keep his laughter from escaping.

"RAT!" Dean screamed. "A fucking rat! A RAT!!!" Dean threw himself out of the car and screamed again, frantically rubbing his legs.

"Ha! It's fake, Dean! Calm down, it's fake!" Tosh said in between her laughter, tossing the rubber rat toward Dean, who jumped out of its path.

Dean quickly got himself under control, got back in the Impala, and slammed the door.

"Not. Cool." Dean said, revving up the engine of his beloved car.

"Oh, come _on _Dean!!! Every good road trip must have a prank wars. It's a simple fact of life." Sam said, laughing heartily now.

"Kiss my ass and eat! We _were _going to go to a restaurant, but screw that now!" Dean said spinning out of the gas station and back on to the road.

After Dean was too tired to drive anymore, the four of them decided to rest at a cheap motel called "The Submarine."

Walking in a surveying the room, Sam lightly chuckled, looking around the room at the cheesy decor. Sam picked up a tiny exact replica of a depth charge and gazed at it with a smirk. "Wow, you really picked a good one this time! What should we do about rooms?" Sam inquired.

"Well, if it's okay with the ladies, I'd rather stay in one room instead of wasting the money to rent two rooms. We'll just have to share beds. And Lord knows that me and you have had to share a bed or two. That okay with you guys?" Dean looked at Tyler and Tosh for approval.

"Sure, that's cool. Ty?"

"Yeah, whatever." Tyler responded, nodding her head in understanding.

When Dean opened the door, he immediately pounced on the nearest bed taking off his shoes, socks and starting on his belt.

"Dude! Don't forget! There are girls here!" Sam warned.

"And they can watch if they like, but I'm getting undressed and going to sleep. End of story!" Within minutes, Dean was under the covers and snoring lightly.

"Man, when he says he's going to do something, he means it," Tyler observed, retreating toward the bathroom.

After everyone got settled in and into bed, the exhausted hunters slipped gratefully into sleep.

_Sunday_

"I'm hungry as hell," Tyler said in the back seat. "We left Cleveland at eight in the morning and it's like two in the afternoon now!"

Tosh flexed her back and replied, "Me too, and I'm so tired of being in this car. You guys want to stop somewhere and eat?"

Dean looked over at Sam. "That good with you?"

"I thought you would never ask. I could eat an elephant right about now," Sam said, lightly rubbing his stomach. "There's a place right in front of us, if you guys are ok with having Mexican. I know _I _am!" Sam pointed to the restaurant, _Los Primos_

"Let's do this," Dean said, pulling in to the restaurant. He whirled the Impala into a parking spot.

"It's a really nice day," Tyler said as she got out of the car.

"Not a cloud in the sky," Tosh observed getting out and stretching her arms in the air.

"We should totally sit outside," Tyler said looking at Sam and Dean. "Does that bother you guys?"

"After being in the car all day, it seems like the perfect thing to do," Sam said walking behind Dean into the establishment.

Once outside, they seated themselves, Sam and Dean sitting across from Tyler and Tosh, and they ordered.

Thirty minutes later, the four travelers had full stomachs and were deep in conversation.

"I loved that movie!" Tosh said, a huge grin across her face, "The death scenes were exquisite!"

"I enjoyed those too. They completely made the movie," Dean replied, taking a sip from his drink. "Sam got grossed out though, didn't you Sam? Sam had bad dreams about Wade for a month."

Tyler laughed hysterically, along with Tosh. "Shut up!" Sam exclaimed.

Sam scoffed, then, all of a sudden, he had a "light bulb" moment, his eyebrows furrowing in realization.

"Hey, Dean, does this area look familiar to you?" Sam said looking around.

"I don't think so..." Dean replied.

After a few moments, it dawned on Sam.

"Dean, this is where we came to watch you compete in that hockey championship! Look!" Sam pointed across the street to a building. Dean followed his eyes.

"Glenview Ice Center..." Dean whispered.

"Do you remember?" Sam said. "1992?"

"Yeah, I remember. It was the only time I can remember Dad choosing to travel for me and not for hunting. It was the last time I remember him paying attention to anything I did." Dean said matter-of-factly, like it was simply a fact of life. He turned his head around to see Tyler and Tosh wearing faces of pity.

"Excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom," Dean got up and wasted no time in disappearing.

"Whoa. I take it he didn't enjoy it?" Tyler said, "Do you mind telling us?"

"Well, it's not that he didn't enjoy it. He loved playing hockey. It was his getaway, something to take off stress. Dad was following up with a hunt in Minnesota, when Dean was in 7th grade. It was particularly long hunt, maybe six months, and by then, Dean was hooked. He's always been good at sports. He made the team quickly and was, by far, the most valuable player on the team. He was made Captain, even, and he single-handedly took the team to the national championships. I wouldn't have believed he was as good as people made him out to be if I wasn't at every practice after school. Dean could keep an easy eye on me that way." Sam explained.

----------

Dean let the hot water in his hands cascade over his face. He was frantically trying to get himself under control.

_'This is stupid. I need to let this go'_ Dean kept thinking, that game running through his head. Dean reached inside his jacket and opened his wallet. inside, in a hidden compartment, Dean took out a picture, captioned, _Dean Winchester, Captain of the Jets, 1992._ Dean looked at his smiling 13-year-old self, remembering better times.

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"But, I don't understand, the way he acted just now...I don't know.." Tosh began.

"That's because I haven't finished the story. See, they made it to the championships, along with a hockey team called the Hawks, I forgot where they were from. But, they were good. Almost too good. The game went into overtime, with a tied score of 15. Then, Dean, by some divine intervention, got a penalty shot. But I knew he hated that. On the drive over, Dean told us that he had heard that the other team's goalie was really good. And he was a good player too. He was the Captain as well, and the team would alternate, because they had two goalies, and, when he played, he would give Dean a run for his money. Dean did his signature move for the shot and the goalie blocked it. But, even though it sucked, that really wasn't the zinger. The goalie took his helmet off, and it was a girl. Dean was devastated. A Winchester beat by a girl. And his teammates..." Sam's face reflected sadness fro his brother. "Well, let's just say kids can be cruel."

"That sucks," Tyler said, mulling it all over in her head.

"Dad tried to act like it was ok, but it was obvious that he was disappointed. 'There ain't no reason in doing stuff like this if you're not going to win, so we're you're not going to do that stuff anymore' he told Dean. Dean basically views that game, that moment, as his one time that he was normal. And maybe, if he had beat her, he could have had a more normal life down the road, ya know? He even has a picture in his wallet of himself in his uniform. As a reminder of the one thing he didn't accomplish. I think it's morbid, but only Dean, huh?" Sam continued.

----------

Dean put the picture back in his wallet, shoved the wallet forcefully inside his jacket and took a deep breath. He looked at himself one last time in the mirror.

"There ain't no reason in doing stuff like this if you're not going to win," Dean said to himself. He turned to go back to the table.

----------

"Just don't bring it up anymore, ok?" Sam said when he saw Dean coming. Tyler and Tosh silently agreed.

"Hey guys, can we crash for the day? I'm really tired, and I would love to sleep," Dean said his eyes slightly drooping.

"That's fine with me," Tosh said, along with Tyler and Sam.

"I'll pay and pull the car around," Dean replied, retreating.

"Shit... he seems pretty messed up about it," Tosh said to herself.

Once they had checked in to yet another famous flea-bag motel, Dean took his jacket off and was out like a light, snoring loudly.

"He must have taken something. He only snores like that when he has taken something. He'll be out for a while. Hey, it's only 3:30, do you guys want to go driving around and hang out or something?" Sam asked.

"I'd love to," Tyler replied, putting her coat back on.

"I'll stay here. I could use some shut eye as well," Tosh said, taking her shoes off and putting them beside her and Tyler's queen bed.

"Ok, that's fine. We'll be back later," Sam said, him and Tyler exiting the room.

"Later," Tosh replied, lying down.

Once Tosh heard the Impala exit the parking lot, Tosh slowly went over to Dean's jacket, taking it gently in her hands and sitting down at the only rickety table in the corner of the room. After some rummaging around, she found his wallet in the inside pocket, thankful that she didn't have to go through Dean's pants to get to it. Finally, she found the secret compartment and the picture that resided inside of it.

"Shit..." Tosh said, dismayed at what she was seeing. Clutching the picture in her hands, she let a few tears drop. "I had no idea, Dean..."

----------

_Dean could feel his pulse rising, the blood boiling in his face. This was it. His one shot to normalcy. Dean slowly skated toward the prepared goalie with the puck, a surge of happiness waving through him. 'I can do this, I can do this, I'm a Winchester,' Dean kept chanting in his head._

_He shot, and time seemed to stand still. Dean's eye's followed the puck as it ricocheted off of the goalie's gloves. Dean felt devastation course through his entire body, feeling as though he had been shot at point blank range. The goalie slowly stood up straight and removed its helmet, revealing her long brunette hair. He fell to his knees and held his head in his hands. The Hawks were going wild, having just realized they had won the game. The goalie slowly sailed over to Dean and knelt in front of him. _

_Dean took his helmet off and raised his head, physically shaking with embarrassment and shame._

_The goalie patted his shoulder. "You did good, man. Real good. Just not good enough. Better luck next time." And with that, she skated away to await her grateful teammates._

_Dean followed her with his eyes, the "9" on the back of her jersey glistening in the light. The girl out of earshot, Dean replied to himself, his eyes watering with anger, "There won't be a next time...."_

_Dean skated over to the Jets, who were already snickering. He looked up in the crowd and could both see and feel the disappointment on his father's face._

Dean woke up in a cold sweat, his mind still fresh from the dream he had just had. He could tell it was dark and looked over to find Sam lightly snoring beside him. He looked over at the clock that read 10:00. Eight hours of sleep was like a lifetime for Dean. He got out of bed and stretched.

_"_I'm glad you're up," he heard Tosh whisper. He looked around and saw her sitting at a table in front of him.

"Why?" Dean asked, trying to hide that she had scared him.

"I wanted to take you somewhere," Tosh replied, handing Dean his coat. "Put this on and meet me at the Impala. I'm driving."

"Yeah, right," Dean smirked to himself.

"Yeah! Right!" Tosh said, dangling the keys in front of Dean's face.

Dean frowned and slight shook his head. "If I wasn't so groggy, I'd protest and wonder how you got the keys out of my pants, but you seem to know where we're going, so it's fine. But just this once, you thief!"

Tosh slid inside Dean's car and revved up the engine. She was as nervous as she ever thought she'd be. When she saw Dean emerge from the motel room, Tosh ran her hands over the steering wheel to try to calm herself down.

Dean seated himself into the passenger's side of the car. He looked over at Tosh and patted her arm, a rare moment of affection that broke Tosh's heart because she knew what she had to do.

"I'm ready when you are," Dean said, leaning back into the seat, laying his head back and running his tongue over his teeth.

Tosh drove to their destination, while Dean drifted in and out of sleep. Tosh patted his knee, waking him up.

"We're here. And, by the way, we're breaking in, so be quiet and on your toes and just follow me," Tosh got out and walked to the back entrance, taking out a pick and starting to work on the lock

"What about the alarms and security cameras and stuff?" Dean sighed and rolled his eyes. "You needed to do some homework here! Let's go," Dean grabbed her arms and pulled her away from the door.

Tosh yanked her arm out of Dean's hand. "Will you give me a little credit!" Tosh hissed, "This place closes at 9. While you were asleep, I disabled everything. God!"

"Sorry, my mistake," Dean said, raising his hands in surrender.

Once inside, Dean took his sunglasses off and quickly scanned the place with his eyes. "Tosh, I _really_ don't want to be here right now."

Tosh took Dean's hand. "You need to get over this. That's why we're here. That's why _I'm_ here."

"I don't understand," Dean said, his eyebrows furrowing in frustration.

Tosh went behind the equipment counter and handed Dean the appropriate hockey outfit. "Are you a large or an extra large?" Tosh asked, crouched behind the cheesy Formica counter.

"Maybe you didn't here me, Tosh. I. Don't. Want. To. Be. Here." Dean said, raising his voice with every word.

"You're here, and you're not going anywhere," Tosh placed a rental uniform on the table, giving it to Dean. "If these are too tight, tell me and I'll get you the next size up."

Dean smirked and turned to walk toward the dressing room.

"No, no Dean. You're changing out here. You can easily escape through the dressing rooms."

"Tosh!" Dean whined, "could you be any more _difficult?_ I promise I won't escape."

"I'll follow you in there, if you want it that way," Tosh said, a smile playing on her face.

Dean sighed in defeat. "Whatever. Let's just get this over with. Close your eyes, you perv. I don't want you seeing me change."

"Oh Dean, you and I both know that you'd _love_ it if I watched."

A combination of a smirk and a smile graced Dean's features. "Just cover your eyes, so I can do this."

Tosh complied, covering her eyes, stealing a glance every couple of minutes, Dean totally oblivious.

"Ok, I'm done. You can open your eyes now."

Tosh opened her eyes and was glad to see the uniform on Dean. The look on his face, though, was a look of sheer, unadulterated displeasure.

"Dean, don't you think you're overreacting?" Tosh said as Dean walked over to the skate rack.

"Oh, yeah, I think I am. I'm only in the place where my worst childhood memory resides. And my mom got killed by a demon."

"Wow." Tosh laughed loud, but meeting Dean's glare, she immediately stopped. "Sorry, Dean, I shouldn't laugh. I know that this is hard for you."

Dean scoffed, picking the right skates out and grabbing a helmet.

"Go down there and start skating. I'll be there in a minute."

As Dean skated on to the ice, he closed his eyes, remembering that game, remembering the glowing "9" drifting away from him.

"Yo!" Tosh yelled. Dean was pulled out of his flashback. He looked in front of him and Tosh, in full goalie garb, was skating pretty fast toward him.

"Hey, you can skate? I thought you were from Texas?"

"I've played a game of hockey or two in my day. I was pretty good once," Tosh said, skating around the goal, then positioning herself in front of the net.

"I think you should take me on," Tosh said.

"Bullshit! The force of my puck could really hurt you!" Dean said, chuckling.

"I have pads on dumbass. Take me on," Tosh said, not moving, prepared.

"Ok, fine! Just don't sue me little miss!" Dean said, getting ready to shoot.

"Wait! Come here a sec," Tosh commanded.

"_Tosh!_ I was just fixing to shoot! What the hell do you want?" Dean said skating toward her.

Tosh put her gloved hand on Dean's shoulder. "It's really important that I tell you that I will try my very best to beat you right now, ok? My _very_ best."

"Ok?" Dean said, skating back to his original position.

Tosh got ready, bracing herself. Dean shot, and Tosh blocked it instantly.

Dean was visibly taken aback but he did not talk, he just shot. And shot. And Tosh blocked and blocked.

Sweat dripping down his face, he slammed his stick in to the ice.

"God dammit!!! I can't do this! Have I really gotten this bad?"

"Dean, calm down and try again. We're not leaving until you beat me."

"Why? Why the hell is this so important?" Dean said skating up to her and taking his helmet off, his normally stick straight hair was wet with sweat and sticking to his face.

"Dean... you have to do this. Once and for all."

Dean sighed and took his position again. He shot four more times and then finally made the score buzzer sound.

"Yeah, baby!" Dean said, taking his helmet off and skated toward Tosh, hugging her in a moment of emotion.

"Sorry! That's awkward." Dean said distancing himself away from her.

"Dean, you've beat me," Tosh said, tears in her eyes.

"I know," Dean said, smiling.

"No, you don't know. Stand back," Tosh pleaded. Dean, confused beyond belief, complied.

Tosh took her goalie pads off and started taking her rental uniform off.

Dean's smile grew wider. "Well, I like what I'm seeing."

"Shut up," Tosh said, successfully removing the rental jersey to reveal, underneath, a tattered Hawks jersey. Dean's face fell, visibly paling. "Tosh...this isn't funny. Where did you get that jersey? You're being a bitch!" Dean basically screamed.

"Dean," Tosh said softly, "I'm sorry about what happened to you all those years ago."

"But..." Dean said, tears in his eyes, "It wasn't your fault."

"It _was _Dean. I was the goalie," Tosh said, upset, tears falling down her face. She turned around and on the jersey it said "Banks, 9"

_The goalie patted his shoulder. "You did good, man. Real good. Just not good enough. Better luck next time." And with that, she skated away to await her grateful teammates._

_Dean followed her with his eyes, the "9" on the back of her jersey glistening in the light._

"_What about the other one?" "Tosh a.k.a. Natasha Marie Banks was raised in good ol' San Antonio, Texas." Tosh… Tosh Banks… Natasha Banks… Banks…_

"I didn't realize that boy was you until Sam told me the story of what happened. And now you've beat me, Dean. Now you can move on," Tosh cupped Dean's face in her hands.

"Don't touch me," Dean said, his voice low and warning. He squeezed Tosh's hands and forcefully pushed them away.

"Dean, don't do this. I was 13. I didn't understand how much it meant to you," Tosh said, furiously wiping at her eyes.

Dean, anger coursing through his body, grabbed Tosh and slammed her into the nearest wall. "You _ruined my life_!" Dean said, his eyes red and puffy, squeezing Tosh's arms as hard as he could.

"Dean, you're hurting me," Tosh said calmly, trying to get Dean to understand.

"Not as much as you hurt me," Dean released her. "I can't even look at you right now."

Tosh let her body sink to the icy ground as she watched Dean storm away on his skates.

"If you're not in the Impala in five minutes, I'm leaving you!" Tosh heard Dean scream as he slammed the door with enough force to make it sound like the door could come off it hinges at any minute now.

Tosh got herself up and left the hockey stuff on the ice, simply not caring. They would be out of town soon anyway. She grabbed her jacket on the Formica counter and zipped it up making sure the Hawk jersey could not be seen.

Tosh jogged out to the Impala, with Dean waiting behind the wheel.

Dean said nothing, acting like Tosh wasn't even in the car, driving at break neck speeds to get back to the motel. When they made it to the parking lot, Dean spoke, his voice deep and monotone.

"Better go pack your things. We're leaving here," Dean wouldn't even look at Tosh.

Tosh hung her head low. "I didn't unpack anything."

Dean said nothing. He just went inside and Tosh couldn't bring herself to go after him.

"Well, that didn't go as well as I expected," Tosh said in to the air, taking deep breaths, trying to calm her shaky nerves.

----------

Dean burst through the hotel door, waking and startling Tyler and Sam.

"We're going. Now," Dean said, his voice shaky.

"Dude, it's one in the morning," Sam complained, nearly falling out of bed.

"I. Don't. Care," Dean responded grabbing his bag and Tosh's in the same hand.

"Ok, then," Tyler said, her accent particularly thick. "Be a jerk." She stumbled to the bathroom and slammed the door.

A few moments later, Dean, with a sleepy Tyler and Sam, emerged from the room, all of them carrying bags.

"What is Tosh already doing in the Impala?" Tyler asked.

"No questions, let's just go," Dean said throwing his bag in the back.

Tyler and Sam met eyes. Tyler glanced in the passenger seat and saw a sleeping Tosh, her cheeks wet with tears.

"Dean," Tyler said, looking Dean in the eyes. "What the hell did you do?" Dean didn't answer, he just met her glare coldly. She glared back, about to lay into him when Sam put a hand on her shoulder, making her flinch.

"Dean?" Sam inquired. Dean looked from Sam to Tyler and boldly said nothing, sliding into the driver's seat.

"Prick," Tyler said, finally getting into the car, Sam following her with his eyes, concerned.

"Yeah, he can be that," Sam said with a sigh, getting in the car beside Tyler.

Dean turned the radio on loud, waking Tosh up.

Tyler leaned up and whispered in Tosh's ear. "Sweetie, what happened?"

Tyler's kindness caught Tosh off guard and her eyes filled with tears when she glanced at Dean's indifferent face, but it was dark and she did her best to hide them from Tyler. As well as she could, she mustered up the best 'I'm fine' voice she could manage.

"Nothing. Nothing happened, at least to your knowledge. I really don't want to talk right now," Tosh said, turning her face away from Tyler and trying her best to go back to sleep.

Tyler backed off and laid her head back against the seat. "I don't understand. She was fine this morning," Tyler whispered to Sam, distress in her voice.

Sam nudged Tyler's shoulder with his own and said, "You can't force these kinds of things. Something obviously happened and if Tosh wants to tell you she will tell you."

Tyler sighed in agreement, falling asleep shortly after, her head inevitably falling onto Sam's shoulder as Dean drove into the night.

_Monday_

Tyler slid out of the Impala with a look of discomfort, stretching her shoulders and rubbing her lower back. "I hate long drives. What is the time perchance?"

Dean got out, slamming the squeaky door of the Impala with a scoff, completely ignoring Tyler and going straight for his bags. Tosh did the same, her eyes heavy and tired, despite the fact that she had slept the whole way from the motel to the Roadhouse's site. Tosh passed Tyler, not seeming to notice, her hair in her face.

"Anyone?" Tyler said to no one in particular, her face turned toward the sky and her arms raised in exaggerated frustration.

Sam walked up behind Tyler and massaged his neck muscles for a second before answering. "It's two in the afternoon. Beautiful day," Sam chuckled, his eyes slightly creasing at the edges.

Tyler turned around and looked at Sam, sending a shiver down her spine when their eyes connected. "Yes," Tyler said. "Extremely." Tyler walked to the back of the car with Sam to get her bags.

Dean strode into the beginnings of the Roadhouse first, Tosh a careful distance away from him, which Tyler mentally noted as she too, along with Sam walked into the project that awaited them.

Dean and Tosh lowered their bags with a gentle thud, silent with identical hard looks on their faces, neither one wanting to be the first to talk. It was as if they were playing the quiet game with each other, the first one who talked is the one to lose with embarrassment to the immense pleasure of the other one.

Slightly shaking his head at the two, Sam scanned the room quickly, his eyes narrowing in focus. The new Roadhouse looked shockingly good for the short time from when the old Roadhouse had burned to the ground. The frame was completely done, but still lacking a roof. There were tarps folded in the corner, waiting to be put up to cover the overcast clouds that hovered above them, as well as a few visible electrical wires waiting to be tampered with and covered up.

"Wow," Sam said, nodding his head and glancing over at Tyler. "Ellen and Lenny must have been hauling _ass_ for the past few days.

A distant clanking could be heard from the back of the makeshift building. Ellen emerged, covered in dirt and grime from some wreckage, and came through what could be construed as a back door. With a warm smile, a hearty laugh and an enthusiastic wave, Ellen welcomed the newly arrived hunters.

"Am I glad to see you guys! And to correct you Sam, I wish Lenny and I _had_ done all of this. Fellow hunters, you know how they do with their gossip, got wind of the situation down here and decided to take detours and help me out. I had five hunters helping me out until earlier today. I told them that I had some special friends coming, so how are y'all doing?" Ellen rushed forward to hug Sam, Dean, Tyler and Tosh.

"I really do appreciate this, guys," Ellen said her eyes suddenly turning sad.

"I know you would do the same for us, Ellen," Tyler said, placing a comforting hand on Ellen's arm.

"Well, I know Lenny would bust my chops if she knew you were here and I didn't go get her so..." Ellen walked over to where the hunters had entered, stuck her head out into the open air and yelled, "LENNY! THE GANG IS HERE!"

The elephant-like pitter-patter of Lenny's running feet weaving through the wreckage could be heard seconds before Lenny made her presence known.

"Toshie!! Tyler!!! BOYS!!!" Lenny squealed like a three year old, lunging herself at each hunter, giving them a hug, roughly squeezing the life out of every hunter in the room, including Ellen at the very end.

"Hey, Lenny," Tyler said, lightly chuckling, then turning her attention back to Ellen. "So," Tyler said, shrugging, "where in the _world _would you like us to start?"

"Well, I was just tinkering with the electricity before you guys got here. I think I'm going to take a little break," Ellen turned to sit on a bar stool spared by the fire in front of a newly-built bar stand. "Y'all can start there if you want."

"Who else's good with electrical wiring?" Tyler asked into the room.

"Dean made an EMF meter out of a walkman when he was just a kid," Sam replied, nodding his head over to Dean.

Lenny let out a surprised laugh.

"No! No way!" Dean didn't respond. "Really?" Tyler asked, turning to look at Dean.

"I could take a look at it," Dean said quietly, visibly mulling over the prospect of having to perhaps work with the woman that hated him the most.

Tosh watched as Tyler walked away with Dean, silently praying that, even though Dean had hurt her, Tyler wouldn't give him a hard time.

"So, where should we sleep, you think?" Sam asked Ellen, scratching his head.

When Tosh turned her attention to Sam, she had already realized that her hopes would most definitely not come to fruition.

"Well, actually where you're standing, in the open floor plan, that's actually the safest place to put up shop. Me and Lenny like to sleep in the back, but there's simply no room for y'all. Sorry about that," Ellen shrugged.

"No, no," Tosh said, almost making Sam and Lenny jump, as it was the first time Tosh had really spoken since they had gotten there. "No, Ellen, this is more than fine. Do you mind if we get started soon? Setting this up might take a little longer than we might think."

"Oh, yeah!" Ellen said. "Knock yourselves out. I'm going to go see if I can find some pillows or something for you guys. Come on, Lenny, you can help me too."

The silence was cruel and deafening until Sam decided to break the silence. Turning to Tosh, Sam furrowed his brow and ran a hand through his hair. "Soo...." he began nervously, "Do you want to talk about it? I mean, I _know _how bad Dean can sometimes be. Maybe if you get it out you will feel better?" Sam looked at her hopefully, reminding Tosh of a little boy looking into his Halloween candy for the first time, hoping there was something in there worth a night of trouble.

"It's pretty unbelievable," Tosh said, monotone. "Pretty damn unbelievable. Even for somebody like you."

"Try me," Sam said, kneeling to grab and unravel his seldom used sleeping bag from his worn out bag. Tosh paused, kneeling to do the same, trying to decide if it was right to tell Sam about something that was so hurtful, so fresh in her memory, a gaping wound on her soul.

Sam looked up and reached a steadying hand to rest on Tosh's shoulder. "Please," Sam pleaded, looking Tosh in the eyes. "If you hold it inside like Dean, you'll let it fester and it won't end well. Believe me."

Tosh said nothing, and Sam thought that the whole conversation was a lost cause. He had just broken his eye contact and went back to the task at hand when Tosh cleared her throat, causing Sam to look up.

"Ok," Tosh said, so quiet that Sam had to strain to hear her. "Might as well. It's too damn hot in here anyways." Tosh pulled her jacket off, tossing it to the ground, revealing the old Hawks jersey. She turned around, showing Sam the name and number. "It was me," Tosh said, silently praying that Sam would not react the same way.

_Sam looked in horror as Dean missed the shot. Dean never missed. He was the best, a rock in Sam's life, always knowing what to say, always knowing all the answers to all of Sam's questions. Sam simply couldn't believe it. If Dean wasn't the best at this, even though he said he was, what else would he fail at? He felt his heart drop to his stomach when the opponent, the _enemy,_ removed _her_ helmet, stopped to say something to Dean and went off, unaware of the unbearable weight she had placed on the hearts of all three Winchesters._

_"God dammit," John said shaking his head, grabbing Sam's little chubby hand and leading him out into the front of the building to wait for Dean in silence. Sam, not wanting to look at his father's disappointed face focused on the building in front of him, especially the glistening letters plastered to its surface._

Glenview Ice Center

_Sam lost track of how long they were there, John finally deciding, when the masses of both hockey players and parents started flooding into the parking lot, to wait by the Impala for Dean. Vans upon vans, containing hockey moms and their offspring players, many of them probably uttering 'you're still a winner to me' as they disappeared into the mist. Sam frowned at the thought. Even a nine-year-old boy could understand that there would not be any of that comfort here between Dean and John._

_Dean was the last to emerge, in a ratty t-shirt and patched up jeans, clutching a duffle bag filled with hockey gear in his hands. Slowly, with his head slightly hung in defeat, Dean made his way to the car. Sam could tell that Dean had not been crying. He never cried when John was around, he had to be strong for both him and for Sam too. He stopped in front of John, waiting for his father to speak, Dean's head still hung low in shame. _

_After a minute, John tilted Dean's face to meet his own. "There ain't no reason in doing stuff like this if you're not going to win, so we're you're not going to do this stuff anymore. There's a hunt in Calumet City. If we leave soon we can make it before dawn," John said with a crushing finality in his voice. Sam could tell by Dean's eyes that his soul was crushed. "Get in the car," John said non-chalantly, opening the back door for both Dean and Sam while getting in the front and turning the ignition. "Yes sir," Dean said with a sigh as the Impala roared to life. They rode home in silence, Dean looking out the window, trying with all his strength not to lose it, especially in front of his dad, the King of "no click -flick moments."_

_Later that night, when the Winchesters had settled into yet another flea-bag motel, little Sam awoke to a sound coming from the bathroom that was so small he wasn't sure he had heard it. Sam arose, slowly brushed his brown locks out of his face, and, after methodically checking the salt lines on both the windows and doors and finding a note from dad that said he would be back in the morning, he decided to check it out. Excruciatingly slow, Sam tiptoed to the closed bathroom door and confirmed his thought. Dean was not in his bed, he was inside the tiny bathroom, clutching his jersey in his hands, oblivious to his younger audience._

_"I hate her...I hate her....," Dean whispered, sniffing and resting his forehead on his knees._

_Sam, as he looked helplessly at his devastated brother, found that he felt the same way._

_"_I mean..." Tosh said, breaking Sam out of his thoughts, "I would understand if you felt the same way as Dean. You had just as much riding on that game as Dean did."

Sam shook his head. "No, I forgave you a long time ago," Sam replaced his reassuring hand on her shoulder. Tosh almost felt like crying, needing to feel someone's comfort, especially now. Sam continued.

_"_I figure that, even though Dean had won that game, Dad would have given any excuse to keep hunting the demon that killed mom."

"So we're good?" Tosh asked, a hopeful tint in her voice.

A genuine smile spread across Sam's face. "Yeah, of course! I just can't get over the fact that the world can be so small!" Sam laughed, throwing his head back for a second.

"Yeah, Dean didn't find it so funny...." Tosh turned her back to Sam and finished unpacking her and Tyler's sleeping bags.

"Y'all must be having fun in here!" Ellen said with smile, pillows in her hands. Lenny was right behind Ellen with pillows as well, throwing then at both Tosh and Sam.

"CATCH!" Lenny said throwing all of the pillows in her possession toward Sam, giggling as her hair was comically moving in all directions.

Sam barely caught two of them and let the other one fall on his sleeping bag.

"We found 5 pillows; one extra. I guess you'll have to fight for it!" Ellen said, moving to the back of the rooms. "I'm going to go with Lenny to get us something to eat. What do you eat?"

"Anything is fine with me Ellen, as long as it's food. Food would be _nice." _Sam patted his stomach for a second.

Tosh chuckled. "Same with me. Life of a hunter, ya know? I guess it's safe to say the same with the other two. I am calling dibs on the extra pillow tonight, though." She pointed at Sam. "Witnessed." The tall hunter nodded with a mock serious expression.

Ellen, looking at Tosh for more than a couple seconds for the first time that day, saw the dark circles under her eyes.

"You feelin' ok?" Ellen asked, walking over to Tosh and feeling her forehand.

Tosh felt embarrassed, hating it when people fussed over her. "I'm totally fine Ellen, just really sleepy."

Ellen nodded understandingly. "Well, you don't have a fever, so that's good enough for me. I'll be back later with the food. See you in a minute!"

Lenny trotted after Ellen as Sam and Tosh glanced around and fell into a comfortable silence, working on filling the gaps left in the walls.

----------

Dean and Tyler glanced warily at each other as they went around the corner and stared at the mangled electrical wiring.

"I'm really not up for electricity just yet, since I'm cramped up beyond all reason from the insane car ride here. I also can't stand your face right now. So why don't you and I split up for a while and then meet back later that way neither of us gets hurt?" She walked off and disappeared around a pile of lumber, leaving Dean standing dumbfounded.

_That was surprisingly non-violent_, Dean thought to himself as he stood for a few moments. _That also didn't sound like a request_. He shrugged and walked off, mildly frustrated and shaking his head.

----------

Tyler dusted off her hands and pulled her jeans up again, mentally scolding herself for forgetting to wear a belt to hold the tool belt up better. She ran the back of her hand over her forehead, grimacing and flexing her gloved hands.

_What next?_ She thought idly as she glanced around the work site. She spotted the main electrical box and shrugged, dusting off her gloves against her pants as she strolled over to the jumble of wires. She figured she could bear Dean's company now, so why not?

She whistled for the other hunter and sat in front of the mess, starting on untangling the stiff new wires for a few minutes, hooking up the switches, when she heard footsteps behind her and turned, squinting into the sun. Dean looked down at her before sitting next to her and taking a stubborn set of wires from her hands.

"Here. You obviously have no idea how dangerous this is for someone to do." He didn't notice the blonde's flashing eyes as she tightened her lips in anger. _Maybe I'm not ready for his company_.

"Oh?" She asked calmly, her eyebrows rising in curiosity. "So why don't we work together so neither of us gets hurt, since this is _so_ dangerous after all?"

Dean looked at the English girl suspiciously, his eyes narrowed. Her face was all innocence. "Okay." He finally agreed, handing her the other end of the tangled wires. "Pull lightly on whatever one you're untangling so the other one of us doesn't keep trying to untangle it."

Tyler nodded and smiled slightly at the condescending tone before pulling a few of the wires. She subtly slipped one of the wires from the active fuse box into the mess and moved her hands out of the way as Dean's fingers brushed the active wire.

----------

The smell of burning hair followed Tyler as she ran around the corner, surprising Sam and Tosh from their cutting of boards. The blonde's expression was filled with glee, but she ran like something was after her, giggling lowly.

The other two hunters saw why as Dean came around the corner like a storm, his eyebrows furrowed down into one line, hands fisted at his side.

"So, is the power hooked up?" Sam asked, looking from Tyler's laughing face on the incomplete roof to Dean's angry expression as he glared at the blonde.

"Oh, yes, I'd say that it works quite well, wouldn't you, Dean?" Tyler said through her giggles.

Dean nodded stiffly, his jaw clenched in anger. "Oh. Yeah… I'd say it works." He started walking slowly towards Tyler's perch pulling a girlish squeal from the blonde who climbed higher onto the roof. "Come on, _Ty_. Don't you wanna come down and we can work on the electricity some more."

"No, no, Dean. I'm staying up here, thanks." She stretched out, crossing her ankles and propping up on her elbows. She turned her face up to the sun, closing her eyes in pleasure. "It's quite lovely up here, actually."

"Mm. I'll just bet it is." Dean growled, moving away as Ellen came around the bend in the road, dust flying from her car as she hauled to a stop, Lenny climbing out of the car and running over to plop herself at the bar.

"Food's here." Ellen bellowed as she placed two plastic bags on the half built bar.

"Yes! Finally one thing to go right for me today." Dean muttered to himself as he grabbed two burgers and plopped on another barstool further into the room.

Tosh snorted quietly and Sam and Tyler glanced at each other.

"Hey, you comin' down?" Ellen asked the blonde reclining on the half-a-roof. Tyler shook her head and Ellen shrugged.

Lenny tossed two burgers up to the blonde before joining her on the shingles. Everyone ate in relative silence, heavy thoughts weighing them all down.

----------

Eventually, Tyler came down from the roof and got a face full of sawdust from Dean for her trouble. Growling in frustration, the blonde stalked off to work alone, waving Dean a one-fingered salute as she walked away.

She began to measure out the planks for a new bar, humming quietly to herself to keep her mind off of what had probably happened last night. Shaking her head, she jumped at the sound of footsteps behind her.

Sam held out his hands in a show of harmlessness. "Hey. Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you."

Tyler snorted. "You didn't startle me, Sam. I assure you. I'm just… jumpy that's all."

Sam nodded with mock seriousness. "I'm sure you're right." He hooked his hands in his belt. "You need any help?"

Tyler thought about it for a moment before nodding. "I could really use you to steady this board. I can't do the measurements if it keeps wiggling around this way."

Sam smiled and gripped the board obligingly. "So we're working on the part of the bar that's left over?" Tyler nodded absently, pulling a pencil from her pony tail and marking small lines on the wood. "Are we trying to rebuild in the exact same style or are we trying to do something different?"

Tyler stood up and drug the back of her hand across her brow. "Well, I think that, judging by the plans Ellen gave me, the general idea is pretty similar to the first plan, but I think she's adding compartments to keep some more tools and such, just in case." She glanced up to see Sam staring at her intently. "See something interesting?" She asked with a smile.

He grinned, his laugh warm. "No, nothing interesting."

Tyler faked an affronted look. "How dare you, Mr. Winchester? Not interesting? My heart is fairly broken at the thought." She put the back of her hand to her forehead and sighed, the very picture of maidenly woe, complete with tool belt.

Sam snorted and rose, walking toward her and affecting a stuffy accent. "Pardon me, mademoiselle, I meant no offense. I beg your forgiveness for this discretion as I am a worthless servant who wants nothing more than to serve you." Sam fell to his knees and clasped his hands to his heart, looking at Tyler beseechingly.

The blonde laughed and tried to pull him back to his feet by his shoulders. "Come on, you great idiot, get up off the ground."

"No." Sam protested, his body loose as Tyler tried to haul him up. "Not until you forgive me for what I said, my dear lady!" Sam grinned up at Tyler's sound of exasperation.

He locked his arms around her hips and refused to let her go, looking up at her, charm shining out of his eyes. He stared at her. "Please say you forgive me." He murmured quietly.

Tyler's chest tightened at the low tone of his voice. She nodded and he smiled, slowly rising under her hands until he stood looking down the few inches into her eyes. His hands found their way to her hips, his touch light on her still sensitive skin.

Tyler had no idea how, but suddenly Sam's lips were a lot closer than before. She licked hers slowly, nervously, unable to take her eyes off his mouth. Slowly, the distance between their mouths got smaller and smaller until they brushed. Tyler's eyes flew open and she jumped back. She shuddered, looking away and clearing her throat.

Sam, noticing her discomfort, frowned and went to step closer to the blonde. "Oh shit. Tyler, listen, I-"

Tyler jumped out of the way and around the other side of the wood. "We should get back to work. It's gonna be a long day, and we should get as much work done tonight as we can, don't you think?" She smiled nervously and he sighed.

"Yeah, yeah, you're right." His voice was filled with anguish, realizing that he had scared her. He leaned down and put his hands on the wood to steady it. Tyler's eyes were locked to his hands and she shivered again, taking another step back.

"Actually, you know what? I needed a pair of scissors… yeah. I told Lenny to find me some… I d-don't know if she did, but it's _really_ important." She smiled uneasily and walked quickly away, leaving a very confused, very sad Sam behind her, clutching a two by four forlornly.

Tyler turned the corner, pulled off her glove, and put a hand to her heart to try and calm herself. She sighed, shaking her head and tucking her free glove into her belt.

"Lenny!!!" Tyler called, looking around for the prodigy child in attempt to cover up her nerves. Tosh came up behind the blonde and looked around, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You know," she said airily, "you would think that a child genius would be able to find a pair of scissors."

The blonde jumped at the sound of her friend's voice. "One would think." Tyler snarled as she stalked away, embarrassed at being seen by Tosh while she was running away from Sam. "I've gotta find her." She tossed back as she disappeared behind the shed and whimpered in frustration with herself.

_Come on, girl. Pull yourself together! _She growled lowly and punched the wall of the shed, the pain in her hand clearing her mind a little. She glanced down at the blood and sighed. _Can't do anything right today._ Shaking her head, she went to find a bandage and maybe her dignity.

----------

Night came all too quickly, chasing the hunters into the half-built shelter as the temperature dropped. Everyone picked their own space, moving around tools and piles of lumber to find the softest part of the floor.

As soon as Dean lay down, he was asleep, face pressed against one pillow, body half on the extra pillow. Tosh growled as she saw the man collapsed on the extra pillow. Both Sam and Tyler cast her curious expressions.

"The bastard stole the extra pillow… dammit." She frowned and cracked her blanket to get it to lay flat as she continued making her pallet.

"I'm really sorry Dean has been acting so odd." Sam said softly, shaking his head as he reclined on his blankets.

Tosh shrugged. "What can you do, Sam? Some people just have to be mean. It's how they are." Tyler snorted and turned the sound into a cough as Tosh glared at her. "Don't get me wrong, I'd love to get him good, but I don't know how." She sighed and lay down too, tucking her toes into the warm woolen blanket.

Tyler lay sprawled like a cat, stretching luxuriously. Sam's eyes were locked to her form, Tosh noticed with amusement. The blonde's eyes flashed as she said, "Well he did start the prank wars. What's to say that's still not going?"

The three hunters sat there silently for a moment, lost in thought for the best way to get back at Dean, when Sam suddenly smiled.

"You know, I have the _best_ idea…" He gestured the girls closer and they all crawled further from the sleeping, and quite oblivious, Dean to discuss their evil plan, grinning and giggling in a most un-hunterlike manner.

----------

_Tuesday _

_Oh let the sun beat down upon my face, stars to fill my dream_

_I am a traveler of both time and space, to be where I have been…_

Dean sang out loud every word, slightly off tune. But he didn't care. He was finally getting some peace and he loved it. Sam had gone off to help the girls with something, so Sam suggested that Dean stay and finish up the roof. So here he was, in the middle of another freakishly hot day in the fall, his head adorned with a black bandana to keep the wetness out of his face. With another pop of the nail gun, Dean thought with an inward smile that, after today, the four workers, along with Ellen and Lenny, would be done with the roof and walls. The girls could do the interior for all he cared. For the first time in a long time, Dean felt content. All of a sudden, out of Dean's peripheral vision, he saw something bright red move.

"What the?" Dean said to himself, putting down the nail gun that he finally got to use and turning toward the mysterious object. What he saw astounded him. It was Tyler, revealing a bright red bikini with two lime green beach towels directly to the right of Dean on the roof. Dean reached down and turned the bulky Walkman down. Tyler spread the eye-catching towels out and shaded her eyes as she looked up at the sun with a smile on her face.

"Not a cloud in the sky," Tyler said, just loud enough for Dean to hear her. "Perfect day to tan!" She looked around her for a second, a grimace gracing her features. "Natasha Marie Banks, you _get your ass out here!"_

Dean's heart constricted a little in his chest at hearing her name, and he almost looked away but couldn't bring himself to do it. But, like most of his emotions, he pretended it didn't happen, simply not acknowledging it. He turned back to his work for a brief moment, before looking once again to his right. Tosh stumbled out in a more conservative green one piece, with two bottles in her hands. "I'm here, don't have a cow, man…"

_To sit with elders of the gentle race, this world has seldom seen_

_They talk of days for which they sit and wait and all will be revealed_

Dean looked around briefly, making sure that nobody knew that he was doing with he was doing, took his headphones out of his ears, and feeling completely uninhibited, gazed at the scene that was playing out in front of him.

Tyler and Tosh were liberally slathering sunscreen and some sort of tanning oil on each other, prepared to indeed lie out in the sun that was so freakishly hot and relentless even in the fall.

"Can you get my back?" Tyler asked, offering the sunscreen both to Tosh with a smirk. "I _always_ burn."

"Absolutely!" Tosh replied flamboyantly, flipping her hair out of the way and revealing a long line of tanned neck and collarbone, which made Dean's pants a little tighter than usual.

"Make sure to get it in there good, I don't want any funny spots or anything," Tyler said, laying out with Tosh after Tosh had finished with her back. Tosh followed suit, letting the warm sun darken her skin.

By this point, Dean was so enthralled in the sheer, simple, sexiness of the all that he didn't notice Sam sneaking up silently behind him. Sam thought, with an inward chuckle, that for once in his life Dean teaching Sam to be as quiet as possible for all the years that they had been hunting had finally come back to bite Dean in the ass. Dean moved slightly to the edge of the roof and craned his neck for a better view, giving Sam the perfect opportunity to strike.

Slowly, Sam crept up to a completely relaxed and oblivious Dean, who was now straining even more to see the two girls sun tanning. When the time was right, Sam grabbed Dean's shoulders and shook them enough to fully and thoroughly scare the crap out of Dean.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING???" Sam simultaneously screamed in Dean's ear while still shaking him.

"What?" Dean whipped himself around, losing his balance. With an amused Tyler and Tosh, who had turned around and sat upright to see him, Dean toppled over the edge, plummeting to the ground.

"Oh shit! Oh shit!" Dean chanted loudly all the way down.

Tosh found that she felt sick, and, looking over at Sam who had also turned a pale shade, she felt her heart fall to her stomach. He was supposed to be scared, that's all. Not falling to the ground. Tyler was already howling with laughter on her side, clutching her midsection. Tosh, her body moving toward the ledge, despite the protests from her mind, searched for Dean below.

"Dean, you ok man?" Tosh heard Sam, who had appeared beside her, shout.

Dean was motionless for about two seconds before he groaned and got himself into a seated position before looking up at the two worried people watching helplessly above him.

"Oh, shove it up your ass, Sam!" Dean grunted after that statement, checking for any dislocations, breaks, or sprains, sighing when he found none, not believing his luck.

"I just got the wind knocked out of me." Assessing the drop of his fall, Dean felt pure anger run through him. He could have _died_, and they didn't seem to care. He could hear Tyler and Sam with a faint Tosh laughing and for a moment he _really _wanted to kill Tyler. Dean stood up for a moment, got his bearings, and then pointed his right index finger accusingly at Sam and Tosh. God only knows what he would do if he could see Tyler, still doubled over in laughter at her clever little trick.

"I'll get you back," Dean hissed through his clenched teeth, "as God as my witness, I will get you _so _bad."

Sam raised his hands above his hand in surrender. "Alright mister big scary man!" Sam retorted sarcastically, sending Tosh into a fresh set of giggles as she watched Dean stomp back into the front entrance of the Roadhouse after he shouted, "Sam, _you_ finish the damn roof! I'm gonna get a drink."

"It's like early afternoon, dude!" Sam called back, picking up the nail gun and setting a few boards where Dean had left off and went to work.

Dean emerged back outside quickly, shouting, "Maybe you didn't hear me correctly, little brother! Kiss my big, bronzed, perfect ass!" And with that, Dean Winchester went into the Roadhouse to get himself a drink.

That afternoon the sky opened up and poured her fury down on the hunters as they scrabbled from their different jobs and threw tarps over everything. All of them sat in a soggy circle in the half built bar, trying to avoid the spots on the roof that still hadn't been filled in.

"Man… this sucks." Tosh muttered as she stared out into the rain. Tyler was lost in thought, running her fingertips through a small puddle of water on the bar and staring off into the rain. Sam nodded in agreement and Dean… well he was separate from them all, at the other end of the newly finished bar area and stubbornly not speaking.

"We could play some card games or something." Sam suggested half-heartedly, expecting to get shot down. When neither Tosh nor Tyler laughed or made fun of him, he turned and glanced at them.

Tyler narrowed her eyes at the rain and pursed her lips. "It's _such_ a waste of a day." She shrugged, finally pulling her eyes away from the outside and hopped off the stool to grab her much loved, much used pack of playing cards from her bag.

She returned with a smile and a glint in her eye. "I'm dealing for Rummy. You in?" The other two hunters nodded, completely ignoring Dean. If he wanted to act like a baby, they'd let him.

Unbeknownst to the three of them, Dean slipped away and found the bottles of tanning oil that had been keys to his downfall earlier that day and briefly thought about kicking them violently before a terrible thought crossed his mind and a smile of the same nature crossed his face.

Nightfall found them all in separate spots again, once again with Dean possessing the extra pillow, but the other three hunters had moved slightly closer together to form a quietly laughing circle of cards and friendly threats over the outcomes of the games.

_Wednesday_

The sun burned clear and bright the next morning, drawing Tyler and Tosh out, towels slung over their shoulders and tanning oil bottles in hand. They grinned cheekily at Dean as they passed him on his perch of scrap wood, his hand wrapped around an egg sandwich. He saluted back and got up, walking back around to start messing with varnish for the new tables.

The two girls looked at each other for a moment, wondering if he was up to something before shrugging it off and laying their towels down across the chairs. Tyler's white bikini had black pinstripes with red trimmings, Sam was pleased to notice as the blonde slathered oil on her friend's back. She turned to let Tosh do the same thing and Sam's eyes flicked to the old TV sitting on a milk crate.

"_This is the hottest fall we've ever had!" _The weather girl exclaimed, miming wiping her hand across her forehead and sighing prettily. Sam moved up next to the two hunters and watched as the temperatures rolled in. _"It really is the oddest thing we've seen in a while! The high today is seventy five and it will get as low as forty tonight! Wow!"_

Sam, Tyler, and Tosh all glanced at each other over the tone of the girl's voice and rolled their eyes, smiling.

"Have fun, girls." Sam said, pushing himself to his feet. "I'm off to do some work."

Tyler grinned. "Yeah, slave boy, go do something useful, like getting a fan and some grapes."

Tosh laughed and folded her arms under her head, mimicking Tyler. "I could _really_ use a massage… also, those bricks won't lay themselves."

Sam nodded. "Right; grapes, fans, and sleeping with bricks. Anything else?"

Tyler smiled charmingly. "That should be all." Sam saluted and walked away, smiling until he saw his brother's scowl. He shrugged, setting about his work, an easy smile finding its way to his mouth.

A half hour or so passed and Tyler's phone went off, alerting the girls to the fact that it was time to turn over to tan their front side. Tyler went to move her arms and stopped as her skin on her back pulled painfully. Her eyes flew open and she saw a shocked expression surely similar to her own on Tosh's face.

A thought suddenly occurred to her and she felt her face heat up with a sizzling rage. "Oh Tosh, darling, did you happen to notice a distinctly buttery smell to our tanning oil this morning?"

Tosh frowned for a moment before realization dawned in her eyes and she took a deep breath. "Tyler, dear, I think I might have, now that you mention it."

They both paused, trying to gently move one more time before both of them screamed in unison, "DEAN!!!"

Sam looked over and saw that the skin on the girls' backs was a bright red and glanced over at his madly giggling brother.

Dean, catching his brother's look, laughed. "Oh man! I don't even care if they're mad! Haha! I don't even care!" He threw his arms in the air and started waving them back and forth in a fair imitation of Lenny, giggling and running in a circle.

As if conjured by the sound, the tangerine-haired girl appeared in the doorway and smiled at Dean. She immediately raised her arms and fell in behind Dean, laughing and giggling, which just set Dean off more.

Sam knew he should maybe feel bad that Tyler and Tosh were burned but he couldn't control the gales of laughter that attacked him at seeing his brother and Lenny running about so.

Ellen walked outside to see the two girls struggling to get up and cursing at Dean, Sam laughing hard enough to lose his balance, and Dean and Lenny having a crazed parade through the yard and decided pronouncing it lunch was probably in good measure.

----------

Tyler's back burned as she upended her bottle of cooking and tanning oil onto the floor that lead into the kitchen. She cursed Dean terribly under her breath as she spread it well with a bare foot before walking away and getting a white button up shirt out of her bag. She pulled the shirt on gently and winced as she realized even the softest of fabrics would hurt her. Evidently Tosh realized the same thing as she made similar sounds across the room, pulling on her cutoffs and a loose button up as well.

They looked at each other and both of them grimaced in pain. Tyler shook her head and walked stiffly back into the kitchen, skirting the oil slick at the entrance with a wicked grin. Tosh walked ahead, then stopped as she saw the floor shine in front of her. She glanced up at Tyler before smiling and walking around the spot too.

Sam nodded at them as he reclined in his chair, having witnessed Tyler's act earlier, and waited until Ellen laid the food on the table. "Would you like to do the honors?" He asked the blonde.

Tyler smiled and rose stiffly. "It would be my pleasure." She picked up a large brass bell and rang it several times. "Soup's on!" She bellowed, sitting back down with a smirk.

The sound of pounding feet met their ears and Dean appeared through the door, his feet suddenly coming out from under him as he slid and crashed into a free standing pantry, all the contents spilling over him. Lenny followed and slid through on her stomach, a shout of glee piercing the air as she slid up to Dean who lay groaning, clutching his side.

"Dean, what the hell?" Ellen asked, looking over the table in confusion at the pile of hunter, food stuffs, and techno geek.

"I think he slipped." Tyler commented, leaning her chin on her palm as she gazed at the groaning man with something akin to loathing shining in her eyes.

----------

The constant hammering of the nail gun could be heard overhead as Dean diligently worked on fixing all of the holes left behind before the torrential downpour. Tyler, up to her eyeballs in spackle, was helping Tosh lay bricks against the wall to once again give the Roadhouse a certain atmosphere that most hunters would like. Sam was focused on finishing the wall opposite by nailing together the remaining lumber pieces, his mouth full of nails and his eyes hard, making extra sure that , in the future, it would talk something a hell of a lot bigger than a fire to destroy his beloved Roadhouse once again. Ellen and Lenny had gone out momentarily to grab more groceries and supplies.

The three hunters were so focused that they didn't quite notice the ceasing of the nail gun above them as Dean, figuring he had about five minutes until Sam, with his trained ears, would notice that something was amiss, slipped down the roof and into the back unnoticed. True to Dean's expectations, within about five minutes, Sam rose his head up the roof in silent question. Sam did not want to disturb the other two workers, so he quietly made his way to the roof where Sam had noticed that Dean's consistent hammerings has died away. Sam wandered to the side of the Roadhouse, climbing the ladder and poking his head to have a good view of where Dean should be.

"Dammit," he muttered, as he quickly saw that Dean was nowhere to be found on the roof. Sam went down the ladder twice as fast as he had gone up and entered the common area.

Sam spoke into the unusually hot humid air. "Anybody seen Dean in the last few minutes?"

The two hunter looked up as if being pulled out of a trance.

"Nope," Tosh answered.

"Sorry, mate," Tyler followed.

A wave of dread flowed through him. Things never turned out good when Sam couldn't find his brother. "DEAN?!?!?!" Sam bellowed into the room.

No answer.

"Are you sure you completely checked the roof?" Tosh asked, a hint of worry lingering in the last few syllables of her phrase. Tosh was already heading out to climb the roof.

Sam ran his hands through his hair and took a deep breath to steady himself. "Yeah. But I'll go again with you guys, just to be sure," Sam replied, hoping to God that something hasn't gone wrong. He gave a hopeful smile in Tyler 's direction.

Tosh made it to the roof first, followed by Tyler and Sam. To all three's dismay, Dean had indeed disappeared, his tool laid forgotten next to the scattered pile of roofing.

"Shit. Did he say he was going anywhere? Does anybody remember?" Sam asked. Tosh shrugged hopelessly, already turning around to descend back to the ground.

"Sorry, Sam," Tyler replied, and before she knew it, she had put her hand on Sam's shoulder and had squeezed in apology. Sam, before _he_ even knew it, had reached his hand opposite his shoulder to cover hers in thanks.

"Well, fuck him. He's been a dick once too many times," Tosh winced as she could still feel the scorched flesh on her back, "and this time, it's bit him in the ass."

_It's too late. It's too late for me._

Tosh continued to work with renewed vigor, willing the thoughts of Dean to go away from her already troubled mind.

"DEAN?" She heard Sam bellow once more as she saw Tyler reappear with a defeated look on her face. "Sam won't come down, not just yet anyways. As if Dean is going to materialize on top of the roof."

"Just forget about it. If he wants to go, let him go," Tosh curtly replied, her lips pursed as she went on working faster than she ever had.

Tyler was taken aback at the venom that was practically dripping from Tosh's mouth. Her eyes focused on the ferocity in which Tosh was swinging her hammer. In a couple minutes, she would be doing far more harm than good.

Tyler lunged toward Tosh, grabbing the hammer while she had it in the air, ready to swing. "What is the matter with you?"

Tosh whipped around, her eyes wild with anger. "What, Tyler? He's going out to drink or something! Why does everything have to revolve around him? Who gives a shit?" Tosh forcefully took back her hammer, turned her back on Tyler, and carried on.

Fighting to remain calm, Tyler answered, after a long exhale. "Tosh, I wasn't even referring to Dean. That should tell you something."

"And what is that, oh wise one?" Tosh asked sarcastically.

"That _we're _not the ones who are worrying so much." Tyler raised her eyes in accusation. "That you're a _little_ too worked up about this guy."

Tosh immediately stopped hammering and faced Tyler. "I ought to punch you square in the face." Tosh dropped the hammer. Sam's feet could be heard in the distance as Sam was finally coming down from the rooftop.

Tyler took a step toward Tosh, their nose centimeters apart as the blonde looked down and the brunette looked up. "Do it. I dare ya." Tyler growled lowly. Tosh coiled her fist and was milliseconds away from granting her friend's wish when Sam suddenly stopped them.

"Tosh, Tyler wait!" Sam urged, raising his hand to silence them. "Do you here that, or is it just me?"

Tosh and Tyler listened closely, Tosh's fist still comically coiled and hovering in the air for a few seconds before lowering, Tosh's brain focused for any sound. For a second, the Roadhouse was filled with an eerie, deafening silence.

It was coming from the coat closet, in an area of the Roadhouse that was spared in the fire. It was a scraping sound, almost like a teacher raking her fingernails on a green chalkboard.

"What the hell is that?" Tyler asked, walking gingerly to the door.

"No," Tosh said, stopping Tyler with a stern hand on the shoulder. Tosh gently pulled Tyler back beside Sam. "I'll check it out."

Sam grabbed the knife from his back pocket and got Tosh's back, Tyler staying behind, watching as she felt nervous tension fill her shoulders.

Tosh's heart was in her stomach as she silently prayed that the noise had nothing to do with Dean's disappearance. She closed her eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, reached her hand out, and opened her eyes. _Please, Please. Please. _

Tosh could hear her heartbeat in her chest now as she slowly opened the oak door. When she opened it, bile instantly rose to her throat and she said three simple words before she sprung into action: "Get him down."

In the split second before she grabbed Dean's waist and tried to hoist him up, she took in Dean's appearance. He had hanged himself from the pole a person would hang their coats. The noise had been the scrubbing of his well-worn boats on the dirty floor of the stuffy closet. His eyes and mouth were closed. He looked as if he was sleeping, if his head wasn't cocked so grotesquely to the side and if his face wasn't so very pale. Tosh, in many of the sordid events in her short weary life, had had the misfortune of seeing a person hang before. What made her blood run cold was what he was wearing.

"Why is he wearing your Hawks jersey, Tosh? That's weird," Tyler said, feeling slightly disturbed.

Tosh didn't hear her. She had grabbed Dean's waist, Sam jumping up to cut the rope to get Dean down.

"It's three minutes before he's brain dead. If we're lucky, Sam," Tosh glanced at Sam. Sam inwardly took in the look of sheer panic, frustration and sadness in Tosh's eyes.

"That's about right," Sam replied as he severed the last shred of rope sending Dean to the ground. Tears had already started to form in Sam's eyes as Tosh lowered him to the ground and Sam and Tosh dragged him away from the closet door entrance.

"Dean? Dean, don't do this to me man," Sam pleaded, tilting Dean's head back to check for a breath.

Tosh's face was stern as she looked into Dean's face for any signs of life, clutching his right so hard that her knuckles were white. She silently prayed that he surely wouldn't die on her watch.

Sam was patting his face, trying his best to revive his brother. "Dean, quit kidding around." A single tear fell from his face.

Meanwhile, a cardboard box in the back of the closet, past the coats and scarves of doomed hunters that had entered the Roadhouse on that fateful day, caught Tyler's eyes. Ignoring the attempts at saving Dean's life, she bent down and grabbed the sides of the box, having to twist it to maneuver it out. She smiled as a thought entered her head: Sam would love to look at her from the back if the situation wasn't so dire. She opened the box and a wide grin spread across her face.

Suddenly, Dean's eyes popped open and he burst out into a fit of laughter. Tosh let go of his hand like it was a hot poker, her eyes staring at Dean with disbelief and shock.

"HAHA!" Dean exclaimed, pointing his finger at Sam. "Sammy, you should have seen your face! I totally got you all! Dean Winchester is the King of the Prank Wars! HAHA!" Dean pulled the rope off or his neck. "I am too good."

Tosh rose, slightly shaking all over her body. "I don't believe it. I don't fucking believe it." She was backing toward the door, resembling a scared deer, wanting to be any other place than it was right at that moment.

Dean's laughs subsided as he realized that no one was sharing in his joy. He saw Tosh inching out of the Roadhouse, the anger, shock, and sadness apparent in her face. He knew then that this harmless prank had definitely backfired.

"Tosh?" He asked, standing up and wiping at the talcum powder that he had put on his face to give the appearance that he had succeeded in taking his own life. He was surprised at how quiet his voice came out of his throat. Dean made a move to approach Tosh.

Tosh's eyes had become glistened over as if she were reliving a memory. She started to slowly shake her head slowly from one side to the other, willing the thoughts what had just occurred to go away. She covered up her mouth with her hand, turned on her heels, and sprinted out of the hap-hazard entrance, harshly ripping the tarp that was acting as a door.

Sam furiously wiped at his eyes. "You are such a stupid _ass_ Dean!"

When Sam spoke those words, Tyler, who had been oblivious during almost the whole thing, was called back in to the problem.

"Whoa, wait a second, what happened?" Tyler was at Sam's side in a minute and then looked accusingly at Dean, whose face had weird white streaks on it.

Sam pushed Dean's shoulder for emphasis. "This _jerk_ pretended to hang himself in the closet. Tosh pretty much lost her shit," Sam shook his head solemnly. "You know better, Dean."

Tyler wrapped her hands around Dean's neck and pushed him into the wall. "You _stupid git_! Do you realize what you've done?"

Dean face resembled a child that had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "What in the hell are you talking about, women?" His eyebrows furrowed in thought.

Tyler released him, walked across the room, and grabbed Tosh's bang. In the front pocket, Tyler pulled out a piece of paper that was yellowing with age.

Tyler stuffed the paper in Dean's hand. Dean looked at the object as if it had come from an alien planet.

"Open it and read it, tough guy," Tyler hissed through clenched teeth.

Dean unfolded the creased paper it see a newspaper article, an obituarary of sorts. A smiling man was to the right of the article. Dean read on.

_Charlie "Chuck" Banks was found dead this morning in his home around 7:00 a.m. The police investigated after the mailman reported that an "awful stench" was coming from the house. The death has been ruled a suicide. His wife, Marie Banks, was murdered in the same house in 1994. Charlie Banks, charged for the murder of his wife, was exonerated five short months later. Two children survive him. Natasha Banks, 16, and Matthew Banks, 12. However, the children were no were to be seen when the police discovered the body of their father. If you have any information on the whereabouts of Natasha and Matthew Banks, please contact the Lubbock County Police Department at 763-190-0111._

"What have I done?" Dean whispered, running out of the Roadhouse in search of a woman who needed to be apologized to.

----------

Sam leaned stealthily next to the window, spying on his brother and Tosh as they argued with each other. He jumped at a sound behind him and turned questioningly. Tyler was half bent, pulling a large box out of the closet where Dean had pulled his stunt. Sam raised his eyebrow and ignored the drama unfolding outside.

"What are you doing?" He asked, walking over to the blonde girl.

Tyler looked up with a crooked smile. "While your brother was putting in his absolutely Oscar worthy performance, I noticed this box." She started to pull again, using her whole body and making scuffing sounds on the floor.

His attention piqued, Sam made a small noise of curiosity and walked over, glancing inside the box as Tyler pushed the lid back. "Holy shit. Is that left over or the new shipment?" He asked absently.

Tyler shrugged, pushing her hair back over one shoulder. "Who cares. Either way, I'm thinking we _really_ need some chill time." She pulled out a bottle of José, cracked it open, and took a long gulp, barely wincing at the burn. She held the bottle out to the mildly impressed male next to her. "You want?"

_Hn, you have no idea._ Sam thought idly, reaching for the bottle. He took a deep swig himself and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Damn. That's good stuff." He stepped closer and looked more into the box. "You thinking of mixing some drinks up?"

The blonde shrugged, leaning back on her heels and nibbling her lip in thought. "I could I guess. Whenever the stupid twins get back inside, I can have some drinks ready." Pulling the box into the main room, she jumped as she caught sight of Ellen behind the bar, hands soapy as she washed the new glasses. Abandoning the box as she heard Sam's laugh, she raced around the corner to see what had happened.

"What? What's wrong?" She demanded then laughed at the bizarre expression on Sam's face. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

He grinned and held up an extremely colorful box covered with grinning cartoons and Tyler's jaw dropped. "I know." He let out a laugh and placed the box next to several more. "I can't believe these are in here. Where did they come from?"

Tyler shrugged, rubbing the bridge of her nose as her odd bracelet slid down her arm. She toyed with the charm and shrugged again. "Maybe they were Jo's from when she was little." She leaned down and found a smaller but still quite weighty box. Opening it, she grinned, showing its contents to Sam.

"Holy crap. That is a lot of pictures. Damn, look at the dates. These are from a long time ago." He handed the box back and Tyler placed the lid back on it.

The sound of Lenny's laughter filtered to them as she scream-sang, "_The mis-adventures of FLAPJACK_!!!" They shot each other a look and Sam shrugged.

Tyler smiled. "Let me guess, you've never seen an episode of _The Misadventures of Flapjack_, have you?"

Sam was about to say something when the door swung open and in walked Tosh. She said something to Ellen as Tyler grabbed a bottle out of the box and Sam held up one of the board games. Both of them waited until she turned around and made excessively happy faces, bordering on deranged.

----------

Dean had no problem finding Tosh standing about 50 yards from the building, her back to him and her arms lying defeated at her side.

"Answer me one thing," Dean asked, "and I won't bother you. We don't have to talk, if that's what you want." Dean moved one step closer to Tosh.

Tosh looked up at him with as much venom as she could muster. Her eyes narrowed in disgust, she nodded. "Fine."

"Why did you hold my hand like that?" Dean eyes softened for a moment, and then he put his carefully trained mask on to prepare for the blow of any answer Tosh could give. "I thought you were going to rip it off or some—"

"You were _dying _Dean! It's what I do when people are dying!" Tosh interrupted, screaming into the night air. Dean took a few steps back, surprised at her outburst. Tosh continued. "I can't believe it. You…you just don't know."

"I do," Dean said quietly, not wanting to upset her any further. "Tyler told me about your dad."

"It's not even that!" Tosh said, taking a seat on the ground. Dean immediately joined her. "It's just…I don't think I could handle..." She looked over at Dean, into his green eyes, those eyes that she had seen in her dreams. In that look Dean felt his heart flutter the little least bit, like a random muscle in a dead frog. He hadn't felt that in so long, maybe never. Dean, in an attempt to comfort her, placed his hand on her knee. Tosh immediately clutched his wrist and squeezed just like she had a few short minutes ago.

"Nevermind, forget it," Tosh jerked her head sharply to the side. "Don't _ever_ make me feel like I felt in there again. You got that, Dean?"

"Absolutely," Dean replied nodding his head in her direction before redirecting his gaze out into the night air like Tosh was. After a few seconds of this, Tosh heard Dean whisper, so minutely that she had to strain to hear it.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too. For the roof thing, I mean."

Dean chuckled and ran his hands through his hair and over his face, feeling more relaxed now that he had successfully alleviated the pressure of the situation.

"Sorry for the sunscreen thing.

"Sorry for the oil thing."

"Truce?" Dean held out his hand for her to shake and Tosh took it, glad to end the dispute.

Afterwards, they sat there for a few minutes looking up at the stars that had made themselves known in the night sky.

"So," Dean said, breaking the awkward silence, "you're obsessed with me, eh?" Tosh realized that Dean had heard the conversation between herself and Tyler. She lunged and punched Dean square in the middle of the chest with all of her might. Dean's eyes widened in surprise as he doubled over from sitting position onto his side in the fetal position, gasping for air with his head bowed. Tosh grabbed Dean's chin in between her thumb and forefinger and jerked his head up to her eyelevel.

"You wish," Tosh let go and, leaving Dean to catch his breath, briskly walked back. "God, I hate chick flick moments!" Tosh said, each word punctuated with a stomp.

When Tosh made it back inside the Roadhouse, she saw that Ellen had returned and was behind the bar washing the new glasses she had bought. She could here Lenny in the back room laughing at a program on TV.

"Hit me up, Ellen. Anything will do," Tosh said sitting down on a barstool and patting the counter.

"Why don't you turn around, baby girl?" Ellen replied, a grin on her face as she nodded in acknowledge to the people behind her. Tosh whirled around on the barstool and chuckled at the sight that was laid out before her eyes. Tyler and Sam were standing beside each other with identical grins on their faces. Tyler, with a cardboard box placed at her feet, was holding up a bottle of Jack Daniels. Sam was twirling what looked like a board game in his hands. Dean sauntered in and, after glancing at Tosh, followed her gaze to the pair on the opposite side of the room.

"Look at what we found! Isn't this the best?" Sam asked with a laugh.

"I say we do some shots and play some games!" Tyler said, hoisting her forefinger in the air in a _#1_ motion. Sam nodded his hand enthusiastically in agreement.

"I say yes, because you guys have worked so very hard on the Roadhouse," Ellen lined up four shot glasses on the bar and poured scotch into them. "Here's something to start off with. I'm tired, so I'm going to bed but you have some fun, you hear me?" With that, Ellen retreated into the back of the Roadhouse.

After they all took the shots Ellen prepared for them, Tyler slid behind the bar and held up her arms with a smile that Tosh seemed to understand since the brunette's mouth broke into a wide smile and she spun around on the barstool.

"We got anythin' you could want, little darlin'." Tyler leaned against the bar with a burr of a Southern accent, toothpick in her mouth. She turned towards Dean, her posture stiffening momentarily before she smiled again. "Somethin' ta tickle ya fancy, Suh?"

Dean's lips twitched in an honest grin and he slid next to Tosh. "Double shot, whiskey." They said in unison and turned, smiling almost shyly at each other.

Tyler turned her eyes to Sam and her smile grew wicked. She leaned over the bar and close to his ear. "I'll make ya somethin' special, how 'bout that, Sugah?" Pulling back with a low laugh and a hop, she started making the drinks, oblivious to Sam's pounding heart.

Tosh slid her hand around her double shot and took a sip, savoring the dark taste on the middle of her tongue. "You guys ever played circle of death?" She eyed the two males who looked at each other in askance. "Didn't think so." She turned to Tyler and raised her glass, downing it and setting it before the blonde once more. "We're gonna need more to drink."

"Comin' right up." Tyler's accent was normal again as she set more glasses up on the bar and started filling them.

"Okay, guys, these are the rules. We'll pull a number from these cards, and each one stands for different things…"

"Need any help?" Sam asked, leaning on the front of the bar and watching as Tyler ran over all the bottles, making shots for all of them from all of the bottles and Tosh kept explaining the rules.

Her eyes glinting with mischief, Tyler shook her head and held out a shot of vodka. Sam leaned back slightly. "I thought you weren't supposed to mix light and dark." His comment belayed his actions as he reached out and took the shot glass.

Tyler's grin sent warmth flooding through him. "Why don't you just let me worry about mixing things that ought to stay separate, eh?" She downed her shot and set the glass down in one smooth motion.

Placing two shot glasses on the bar, she pulled out her cards and spread them in a circle around the glasses. The blonde grinned. "The Ultimate Rules: Draw the King, take a shot; break the circle, take both shots."

Dean rubbed his hands together and smiled. "Let's get started."

----------

"Your turn, Tosh, Truth or Dare?" Tyler asked, laughter dancing in her eyes, her body swaying from her intoxication.

"Truth," Tosh replied hiccupping and then chuckling, reaching for the bottle in Tyler's hand. After Tyler gave Tosh the bottle of Jack Daniels, she delivered her challenge after thinking about it for a few seconds, her body reclined back into the beanbag, arm barely brushing Sam's and taking the offered bottle of José.

"What's the most _demeaning_ thing you've ever had to do?" Tyler asked, her lips quirked into an amused smile, sure that the answer would be entertaining.

"Tyler, we don't want to be here all night!" Dean said laughing heartily, play-punching Sam in the shoulder who was also laughing, although definitely not as drunk.

"Shut up, Dean! Actually, it's pretty easy to answer. I was a stripper for two years." She tipped back the bottle and took a deep gulp as per required for the game.

"WHAT?!?" Sam and Tyler exclaimed in unison, both bewildered beyond belief while Dean gasped and exclaimed, "Naughty!!!"

"_Why?_" Tyler asked, her body leaned forward in inquiry, her expression no longer hinting at any sort of contentedness or the simple happiness of having fun.

"Matt," Tosh took another long swig from the bottle. "He was my little brother, he had cancer and I was his legal guardian at eighteen. We had no health insurance and I worked minimum wage while trying to go to school. I had to get the money somehow." Tosh gritted out bitterly.

"And you never told me any of this? Why on earth would you not tell me this?" Tyler asked, her face as white as a sheet.

"I didn't want your goddamned pity, that's why," Tosh said even more bitterly, if that were even a possibility. Sam and Dean quieted down and listened intently, sensing the change in the situation.

"I've told you _everything_, Tosh. Everything," Tyler's eyes were slightly misted over and filled with hurt.

"Well, what's dead should stay dead. Literally, in this case," Tosh laughed.

"Oh, wow." She whispered, her voice filled with hurt and anger. "This isn't funny Tosh. Do you see me laughing? You're being such a selfish bitch."

"Listen," Tosh started, really brimming over with anger now, "just because I'm not an open book, and you are, doesn't give you the right to accuse me of _anything_," Tosh clutched the bottle of alcohol so hard her knuckles were practically transparent.

"Well, at least I'm an open book and not a pair of open legs!" Tyler retorted sharply as she jumped from her seat, hands balled into shaking fists.

Tosh was completely taken aback at this comment, the hurt going deep. She would have punched Tyler if the blonde hadn't have kept speaking.

"We're supposed to be close. We're supposed to have each other's backs. Knowing each other's secrets is part of that. I just don't know what to think anymore. I mean, how much do I not know about you? Are you a serial killer? A closet rapist? We've been friends forever and I feel like I've only just scratched the surface. Selfish. Just plain _selfish_."

Tosh, about to explode, stood up and threw the bottle across the room, causing it to shatter into a million pieces. "What do you want to know, huh? That I practically saw my mom get gutted from start to finish? That I got put into the hands of my mother's killer, my father? That Matt and me ran away from home after hanging our father by the neck, and that, after stripping for two years and agonizing trips to the hospital that you can't even _begin _to imagine, Matt died a horrible death and I had to bury him with my own two hands? So I _didn't_ tell you, you didn't know. Boohoo." Tosh mocked, rubbing her eyes at Tyler.

"You're a fucking robot, Tosh. I don't even know you anymore," Tyler raised her hands in resignation and went to leave, then decided against it, turning around to get right in Tosh's face, intending to give Tosh yet another piece of her mind. But Tosh beat her to the punch.

"I've told you _everything _else. Just not that. Even that stupid dream I had about Dean before we even met the boys. Only after I told you did you tell me about the one you had about Sam. If I hadn't have said anything, I probably still wouldn't have known about it. Hypocrite, fucking hypocrite."

Tyler looked amazed, like she had been slapped in the face for no reason. Her breathing started speeding up until she was almost gasping in anger.

Sam and Dean looked at each other, both perplexed and slightly scared with this new information. Sam opened his mouth to interject in question, but Dean painfully squeezed his shoulder.

"Ow!" Sam yelped, turning to Dean to protest.

"Let them have it out," Dean whispered, his eyes glued to Tosh still, taking in everything she was saying, both Tyler and Tosh completely oblivious to Sam and Dean's prodding eyes.

"You have changed so completely in the last few weeks. You're not _you_ anymore!" Tyler almost wailed.

"Yeah, well, having to put up with your lovesick ramblings has gotten really old. What'd'ya know? Maybe Sam will take care of you. Maybe you won't have to fight _him_ off anymore and you can have a real life, but I wouldn't count on it too much."

Tosh made a faux sympathetic face as Tyler's lower lip trembled with the effort to keep from crying, her eyes wide and startled looking. Sam and Dean had a feeling that the 'him' they were talking about had nothing to do with Sam himself.

"You know what?" Tyler finally said lowly through her gritted pearly whites, her voice trembling, eyes filling with tears that threatened to spill over her bloodless cheeks. "I don't need this." Tyler turned around and stormed out, slamming the door so hard that Tosh, Sam, and Dean thought it would come off its brand new hinges.

The three hunters stood there for a second, Dean and Sam standing now, too, in the heat of the moment behind Tosh. Tosh started to go after Tyler, but a gentle hand firmly stopped her. Sam passed Tosh and turned to look at back at her.

"I'll go," Sam said softly, after giving Tosh somewhat of an understanding look before walking out the door in search of Tyler.

Tosh turned around to see Dean, with his hand still on her shoulder.

"What?" she said quietly with a sigh. "You gonna get pissed too?"

"What was the dream about?" Dean said, without missing a beat, keeping his stance.

"I can't…" Tosh said, her eyes starting to fill with tears. "I can't tell you."

"Why?" Dean asked, removing his hand and moving closer to her.

"_It's too late. It's too late for me." The girl gazed into his eyes and suddenly the light was gone. The man was gone. Dean was gone._

After the brief flash in her mind, Tosh replied, "I'm afraid that if I tell you, then it will happen." Tosh was beginning to slur, her accent almost becoming indecipherable.

"I'll be okay. I'm freaking Dean Winchester, man!" He burped lowly and swayed a little. "Tell me. Come on."

Tosh wasn't sure if it was the alcohol or the pleading look on Dean's face but she gave in.

"You die. Plain and simple. And I can't stop it," Tosh searched Dean's face for any sort of emotion, any sort of concern, but failed to see any.

"Oh…" Dean said, narrowing his eyes as he carefully picked his words. "Well, it's just a dream. I'm still kickin'!" Dean motioned to himself. "My blood's flowin'!" It was silent between them for a minute, Dean waiting for Tosh to speak.

After a few minutes, Tosh whispered. "When I opened up that closet and you were hanging there… I wasn't just upset because of my dad, I don't care about him in the least. I…" Tosh paused, thinking for the right words. "I was upset because you were gone… dead… and there was nothing I could do."

Dean slowly closed the distance between them and kissed her, then proceeded to ravish her neck with kisses and small, soft nips. Dean separated from Tosh long enough to feel her pulling his shirt over his head.

"We…" Tosh began, her voice wavering with the contents of her blood, swinging Dean's shirt over her hand like a lasso, "…are _so_ drunk…"

Dean laughed loud and grabbed Tosh in his arms and smiled down at her, wanting to kiss her again, but he held himself back. Tosh's smile faded when she looked up at him.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Tosh asked, her brow wrinkled in confusion.

Dean laughed again, and wasted no time.

----------

Tyler could feel her blood pounding in her ears as she stalked outside the half-complete building and looked around, her eyes searching for something she could destroy. She took deep breaths through her nose and breathed out in slow, long lines of air, her jaw slowly unclenching as her heartbeat slowed. She perched on the hood of the Impala and breathed in the cool summery air.

She dug around her pockets of her jacket until she found a half bent cigarillo. She sighed in appreciation and dug around again for a lighter. She lit the tip and puffed until thick smoke rolled from her mouth out into the night. She relished the faint taste of wine as she took two more puffs and blew smoke rings to rise and mingle with the stars. She heard the sounds of footsteps coming up behind her and she turned, eyes wide with surprise.

She smiled at Sam and he gestured silently to the cigarillo. "Yeah." She said sheepishly. "I don't usually smoke… I just save them for emergencies." She shrugged and he only shrugged back, coming over to sit next to her.

"So… do you want to talk about what that was in there?" He asked, his voice carefully neutral as he sat a safe distance from her so he wouldn't crowd her.

Her voice was warm with anger. "Nope."

Sam nodded and smiled. "Okay." He looked up at the sky and inhaled a deep breath of night air. "It feels really good out here at night." He commented, trying to take her mind off of the fight.

Tyler laughed warmly. "Oh Sam." She sighed, scooting closer and hesitating. "Oh, uh, unless you…" She waved the cigarillo a little and he shrugged, pulling her closer.

They were silent for a few moments before Sam cleared his throat. Tyler sighed, shaking her head.

"You have the most girlie sense of needing to talk, you know that?" Tyler commented, a half grin quirking her lips. Sam laughed and shook his head.

"Yeah. I know…" He smiled winningly. "So, since I have such a need to talk, will you please tell me what's up?"

Tyler snorted and took a puff, exhaling a cloud of bluish-grey smoke. "I would think it's pretty obvious what's up, Sam." She shook her head. "I just can't understand. I don't know why she would do that. I've told her so much… more than I've ever told anyone." She wrapped her arms tightly around herself. "I feel this really weird sense of betrayal. It's stupid and childish and I know I actually have no right to demand to know all of this, but… I don't know."

"Well, I can't really say anything, but I know that you feeling that way isn't completely unnatural. She's your best friend and you have a really deep attachment to her. You rely on her a lot."

Tyler's nose wrinkled in thought. "I guess so. But the truth is she depends on me a lot more than I do on her. She depends on me _so_ much more than I depend on her. It's almost suffocating sometimes, but I really don't know what to do. I feel betrayed because she doesn't tell me, then I feel stifled when she gets close." She shook her head and rubbed at her face. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."

Sam laughed slightly. "Sounds like a plan." His voice was rough and his hands tightened where they rested on Tyler.

Tyler leaned a little closer, her eyes narrowed in on Sam's lips. "I've almost forgotten how drunk I am…" Her accent thickened as she leaned closer and breathed gently on Sam's mouth, mingling the warm scent of wine and tequila.

His eyelids fluttered as he tried to concentrate, the feeling of intoxication coming not just from the shots and drinks before, but from the closeness of her mouth, the feeling of her hands sliding up his arms as she turned her body towards his. His hands slid down to her waist, gripping hard and pulling her closer. She kept her lips apart from his for a few seconds more before he growled low in his throat and wrapped his hand in her curly locks, pushing away the distance in a hard, bruising kiss.

She slid over him, pressing his back into the hood of the Impala and throwing her leg over him, ending up straddling him as she broke from the kiss to fling her hair over to one side. He reached up and pulled her closer by the back of her neck, pressing his lips to hers again. She slid her hips slowly over his, barely touching and driving Sam absolutely nuts. She smiled into the kiss, a laugh vibrating through into his mouth and he growled again, flipping her over and pressing her back into the same place his had been.

Tyler gasped as Sam broke from the kiss, pressing his mouth against the line of her jaw and trailing a hot, wet line down her throat. She tangled her fingers in his hair and pulled slightly as he ground his hips against hers. She fought off a moan and felt herself sliding down the car, the cold metal pressing against her bare lower back. The coldness brought back a sense of clarity and her eyes flew open just as Sam locked his mouth on her collarbone.

"S-Sam…" Tyler gasped. "Sam." She said more forcefully when he didn't answer. "Sam!" She wrapped her hand in his hair and pulled slightly. He looked up at her, expression confused and hair mussed, lips swollen from the kissing. "You have no idea how much I want to ravish you, right now, really. But do you think the hood of your brother's car is really the best place?"

It took several seconds for her statement to permeate Sam's hormone controlled mind. When he was calmer, he grinned sheepishly and stood up, adjusting his clothes and helping Tyler off the hood. He kept his grin while she pulled her shirt back down to cover her middle and adjusted her coat, hands shaking slightly.

"That was… great." Sam commented quietly as they headed back towards the half-built bar. Tyler laughed softly and quickly pressed a kiss to his lips, slipping away before he could get a hold on her. _Someone _ had to be the responsible one.

"Yeah. But you know what's even better?" He quirked an eyebrow. "Sleep. Sleep is _fantastic_."

She grinned cheekily and walked into the main room of the bar to find it empty. They looked at each other curiously before spreading out the sleeping bags behind the bar, making a pallet of pillows and blankets and sleeping bags.

Tyler stripped off her coat and shirt, her blood red tank top a surprise of color that accented the curve of her waist. She quickly pulled off her jeans and Sam still found the will to turn away, catching a glimpse of tanned hipbone.

"Aw. Someone's certainly a gentleman." Her voice was gently teasing and Sam laughed.

"Gentleman nothing. I'm going to grope you while we sleep since I can't grope you while we're awake." They both laughed and Sam turned to see Tyler wearing a pair of guy's gym shorts with her tank top, her calves peeking out and her bare toes wiggling.

"I don't know why," she started as Sam pulled off his own coat and shirt, "but the sight of my own toes wiggling has always been one of the funniest things to me…" Tyler threw out as she plopped down and wriggled in the blankets to make herself more comfortable and watch as Sam's jeans hit the floor. She made a small sound of appreciation and Sam smiled.

"That's because you're strange." Sam slurred slightly as he settled next to her, throwing an arm over her waist and pulling her against his bare chest. She giggled slightly and they both settled into sleep, relishing the warmth of each other's bodies, Tyler holding her bracelet away from Sam's skin.

However comfortable they were, Tyler's free hand rested centimeters away from the hilt of her knife, Sam's likewise close to the butt of his gun, both hunters sleeping very lightly incase of some danger trying to sneak up on them while they slept and dreamed.

----------

**A/N: **So! It's about time we updated and we figured since we hadn't updated in so long, we made it super fantastic and SUPER long... about forty pages or so. Really hoped you enjoyed it.

Thanks to those who reviewed chapter six and to those who have added us onto their favorites and alert lists.

It may comfort you to know that chapter eight is already in the works, so the update time on the next one will not be almost six months like last time. Sorry about that, btw, we've both been super busy with school and work.

It would seem that is all. As always, please review and let us know what's up. Also, hey, tell your friends! :)

Lohvf,

kripke's keepers


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